By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai‘i hotels saw yet another record-breaking month in January, flouting at least for now mounting concern among some executives that a jittery Mainland economy will soon be sending a tourism slowdown Hawai‘i’s way.
Statewide hotel occupancy hit 76 percent in January, according to figures released yesterday by Hospitality Advisors LLC and PricewaterhouseCoopers, up seven percentage points from January of last year. Room rates also picked up 3 percent, going to $150 a night on average.
But the real standout was the luxury market, according to the numbers. The luxury market set a new room rate record for the month at $247 a night. Occupancy hit 77 percent statewide in this sector, a 5.5 point increase over last January and a 10-year high for the month.
Maui lived up to its growing reputation as the hands-down leader, with 76 percent of its luxury rooms filled, and an average room rate there of $326 a night.
"This resort has had the best January ever, in both occupancy and rates," said Christof Luedi, general manager of the Kea Lani Resort since Feb. 1. "Even our February has been the best we’ve had in this resort ever."
O‘ahu filled more of its luxury rooms than Maui, about 80 percent of them, but they commanded only $207 a night. Last year, O‘ahu had 74 percent of its luxury rooms filled in January, at about $197 a night.
Analysts and some hotel executives cautiously attributed the gains to a "hangover" of sorts from the good times of 2000, and warned that the economic slowdown so many fear could in fact be on the way.
"Incentives are usually like a year ahead of time, and if you go back 12 or 18 months from January, there was a great high expectation of continued prosperity for everybody," said Rolfe Shellenberger, senior consultant with the management consulting firm Runzheimer International. "There’s definitely going to be incentive business around because it’s an anti-recession tool of businesses, but the question is will it be really high-end or will they scale it down."
Some hotels have reported a softer-than-hoped-for first quarter, with slower-than-expected bookings by wholesalers and some loss in the lucrative groups market. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, for example, will increase its marketing budget during the first half of the year to counteract what appears to be growing consumer caution, Hawai‘i operations director Keith Vieira said recently.
But January showed none of that. A nearly 34 percent gain in the corporate meetings business and a more than 20 percent gain in inventive travel for Hawai‘i drove the strong hotel numbers, the report said, especially pushing the luxury market favored by that sector.
The all-around numbers were helped by a gain in total visitors to Hawai‘i, which hit 554,710, a 7.4 percent increase over the previous January.
Maui also commanded the utterly opposite end of the spectrum, with its budget hotel sector making the strongest gains in the state, jumping more than 23 points to 91 percent occupancy for the month. The increase, which also was accompanied by a 23 percent improvement in rates to $79 a night, was attributed to a sharp 23 percent gain in lower-spending Canadian travelers.
Michele Kayal can be reached by phone at 525-8024, or by e-mail at mkayal@honoluluadvertiser.com
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