Posted: February 16, 2010
Maui finished a "turbulent year" with an occupancy rate of 62.1 percent for 2009. That was down from an already low 67.9 percent in 2008.
The numbers were reported today by Hospitality Advisors. President Joseph Toy said, "2009 has been a very tough year for the visitor industry both in Hawaii and nationally."
Statewide hotel revenues were $741 million lower last year than the year before, for a total of $3.59 billion.
Statewide, there was a slight uptick in business in December, and Maui enjoyed some of that. December occupancy was 62.3 percent, up from 57.4 percent 12 months earlier.
That was the result of aggressive discounting, so Maui resorts made less money even if traffic was up. This is not all a bad thing.
John Durkin, chief financial officer at Maui Land & Pineapple Co., points out that more people mean more tips, more purchases of activities and meals, and in general a somewhat brighter overall picture, even if the owners of the hotels don't get much joy out of it. ML&P's Kapalua Villas made extra efforts to drive up occupancy over Christmas with golf packages, and other resorts also were successful in driving occupancy.
The price came in RevPAR (revenue per available room). It was $168 on Maui in December, down from $175 the year before.
For the whole year, it was $144, down $40 from the $184 of 2008.
Statewide, the rate cutting and some easing in the general economic conditions held the decline in occupancy from 2008 to 4.0 percentage points to 70.5 percent. But the decline in average daily room rates was 12.6 percent, which Toy called "substantial."
As a result, statewide RevPAR dropped from $142 to $117. Maui's decline was by far the steepest, just as Maui's rise in the record year of 2007 had been the best.
Oahu RevPAR dropped from $127 to $110; the Big Island from $122 to $101; and Kauai's was the only county to almost match Maui, declining from $145 to $112.
Hospitality Advisors said declines were evident in almost every location and class of property.
Wailea, by far the most expensive destination in the state, saw daily rates cut from $436 to $362, and RevPAR drop from $288 to $228.
At the other end of the scale, budget hotels (concentrated in Waikiki) slashed their rates from an average of $98 to $86, and they saw their RevPAR drop from $74 to $63.
Over recent years, Hawaii has dropped 8,000 guest rooms, Toy said, from closures and conversions. Without that contraction, the impact in 2009 would have been even more severe.
Not only did almost every area of the state lose business, at the producing end almost every category of business shrank:
The Hawaii Tourism Authority, which tracks head counts, said traffic from the eastern states dropped 7.2 percent, and from Japan 4.9 percent.
The lucrative meetings, convention and incentive group category shrank by 14.5 percent, group tours were off 19.8 percent and independent travelers were down 2.3 percent.
Most of the decline came in the first nine months. The U.S. economy expanded in the fourth quarter. Hawaii's visitor industry did not expand then, but the shrinkage was lessened.
Despite Hawaii's unfavorable status during a recovery as the farthest and (usually) most costly destination - it will be expected to lag other vacation spots, Toy said. Hawaii's overall appeal, relatively, seems unimpaired. It remains among the top five destinations nationally in the three categories of occupancy, average daily room rate and RevPAR.
Smith Travel Research, which compiles the statistics for Hospitality Advisors, ranked New York City first in occupancy, 77.2 percent, and San Francisco second, 71.6 percent. Hawaii's 66.5 percent was third, ahead of Miami and Washington, D.C.
New York led in room prices, averaging $215, followed by Hawaii, $176 and - far behind - Washington, $145, Miami, $141, and Boston, $137.
Again, New York may have been the epicenter of the financial meltdown, but its hoteliers are doing relatively well. In RevPAR, they averaged $166, followed by Hawaii, $117, San Francisco, $96, Washington, $94, and Miami, $92.
Las Vegas is a universe unto itself and does not participate in the Smith Travel compilations. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported that its citywide occupancy rate last year was 81.5 percent (85.3 percent for hotels), with overall business off by 4.5 percent.
Courtesy of Harry Eager, staff writer at The Maui News.
