Posted on: Saturday, March 24, 2001

Hotel occupancy rates dip

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

In a first small sign that tough times may be taking hold, statewide hotel occupancy dipped ever so slightly in February, the first monthly decline in more than a year.

Hawai'i hotels filled 86.5 percent of their rooms last month compared with 86.9 percent in February 2000, according to figures released yesterday from PKF-Hawai'i hospitality consultancy.

Though less than half-a-point, this first drop in occupancy since January 2000 comes as tour operators, hoteliers and sales executives have begun to voice concerns that last year's tourism boom may be slowing.

"In the month of March, our future sales are holding the same as last year, they aren't growing as they were in January and February," Ed Jackson, chief executive officer of Runaway Tours, said in an interview earlier last week about the pros-

pects for Hawai'i tourism in 2001. "We may be starting in the month of March to feel the effects of the uncertainty in the marketplace."

O'ahu hotels had the best February, according to the report, posting nearly 89 percent occupancy, up more than 2 points from last February.

Maui was the hardest hit, losing nearly 5 percent occupancy and filling only 85 percent of its rooms. Executives from the Maui Visitors Bureau spent last week traveling on the Mainland to promote the island.

Kaua'i and Moloka'i were also up slightly, while the Big Island lost some ground.

But room rates were up around the state, according to the numbers, with prices increasing 5 percent over last February to $167 a night on average.

Revenue for each available room in the state, a key measure of profitability, was also up, just less than 5 percent to $138 per night.

PKF surveys hotels that cover 57 percent of the rooms in the state, but does not include Outrigger Hotels, which controls roughly one-third of the rooms in Waikiki.