The September 11th attack
Attendance drops at visitor attractions
By Andrew Gomes
and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers
The USS Missouri Memorial reopened yesterday after a financially draining eight-day closure. But instead of welcoming pent-up demand, the historic battleship received fewer than half as many visitors as it typically would.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
The memorial is one of more than a hundred cultural, historical, adventure and entertainment attractions in the state — some of which are only starting to feel the sharp visitor declines caused by last week's terrorist attacks on the East Coast.
Visitors were allowed back on board the USS Missouri yesterday for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks on the East Coast.
Operators of everything from national parks to the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park hope attendance will improve in the next few weeks, though no one is sure how long it will take for travelers to resume flying and visiting the state as they did before the attacks. That means museums, parks, gardens, galleries — many of them operated by nonprofit organizations — are adjusting to try to survive on drastically reduced cash flow.
Lori Lum, president of the Hawaii Attractions Association, said local visitor attractions have seen attendance drop 50 percent or more.
A lot is at stake, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey last year that reported 15 top Hawai'i attractions take in roughly $10 million a month in revenue. If the slowdown persists for that long, it could represent a loss of $5 million for just a fraction of the industry.
Several attractions temporarily closed last week because of security concerns or a lack of business. The Missouri Memorial was the last major attraction to resume operations.
The eight-day closing sidelined 50 to 60 memorial employees and resulted in a $100,000 loss in revenue. The USS Missouri Memorial Association, the nonprofit caretaker of the ship, may have taken the biggest hit so far, but Don Hess, executive vice president and chief operating officer, is optimistic.
By noon yesterday, the memorial welcomed a little more than 200 visitors, and Hess anticipated that by the end of the day the number would grow to 500, or roughly half the regular attendance.
"I am encouraged by that," he said. "I expected fewer. It takes time to get the message back down to Waikiki. When we look a week out, we will run closer to a normal September day, about 800 to 1,000 a day. I think in the longer term we will be fine."
The association's loss would have been greater had regular employee and electricity costs been incurred while the battleship was closed for tours. Hess said expenditures will be trimmed to get through what has become a tough month.
Lum said more expense-conservation measures may be implemented by other attractions later this week. She said options on the table include discounting prices, curtailing work hours and laying off employees. So far, a majority have maintained normal operating schedules, she added.
Attendance is also down at Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park, which is already closed on Wednesdays under a prior plan to adjust to the slower fall and winter seasons. Operator Horizon Amusement Group Inc. intends to be efficient with costs, staff "appropriately" and perhaps increase marketing or promotions, according to C. Brooks Cutter, park managing director.
"That's all we can do," he said. "Hopefully in the long term people's confidence will come back, and they'll realize Hawai'i is a great place to visit."
Jay Kolona is trying to maintain normal operations at the nonprofit Lahaina Restoration Foundation, which runs five Maui museums.
Kolona, foundation executive secretary, said that so far all five museums have been able to stay open, but if one of nine docents isn't able to come in, the foundation will probably close the least popular museum instead of trying to find a replacement. "It's kind of sad," she said.
Atlantis Adventures Hawai'i restated its tour submarines and the Navatek cruise boat Monday, after keeping the vessels tied up over the weekend as many tourists stuck in Hawai'i left, and few arrived to take their place.
Three days later, ridership was running at 50 percent of normal, said Ronald Williams, Atlantis' chief operating officer. Business at Sea Life Park and Waimea Valley Adventure Park, both managed by Atlantis, is similarly down.
Williams said the company hasn't had to furlough or lay off anyone, and hopes that business will rebound soon.
"I'm hopeful that we start seeing an upward trend," he said, "but at this point in time I don't see any indicators that that would be something to bank on."
