The September 11th attack
Neighbor Islands cope with tourist, spending drop-off
| • | Hawai'i tourism in turmoil |
| • | Some plans must veer off course |
| • | Hawai'i's appeal helps draw visitors |
By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer
Her restaurant was completely empty at 1 p.m., so Sherrie Doudt had plenty of time to think about the money she wasn't making.
"I had eight customers today at lunch, that's all," said Doudt, a waitress at Buzz's Steak and Lobster in the Coconut Plantation Marketplace on Kaua'i. "Without that tip money, I have to watch what I spend."
The restaurant has fared so poorly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York that management had to cut workers' shifts back to two nights a week, Doudt said last week.
Coconut Plantation, the Kaua'i equivalent of Ala Moana Shopping Center, was nearly empty as well — symbolic of the problems the Neighbor Islands have faced in the past weeks. While much of the recent attention on the state's struggling tourism industry has been given to the vacant hotels, massive drop in air passengers and staffing cutbacks on O'ahu, the rest of the state has also been hit.
People on Maui, Kaua'i and the Big Island say they probably aren't suffering as much as Honolulu, but businesses are struggling not only with reduced tourism, but with local residents' lower spending. As with O'ahu, companies have cut workers' hours, and sometimes their jobs and salaries, as they try to wait out the tough spell.
"We're trying to be positive, hopeful that things will get better, but it's hard," said Jennifer Takase, manager of the Deja Vu surf clothing store in Kukui Grove Shopping Center in Puhi, Kaua'i.
Hotels on the Neighbor Islands report mixed results from the last several weeks. The number of airplane passengers arriving in Hawai'i has dropped by one-third statewide — but most of the decline has been in passengers to O'ahu. Maui air arrivals were down about 10 percent for much of last week, while the Big Island and Kaua'i actually reported increased arrivals, according to daily estimates by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Neighbor Island hotels have been sheltered from some of the statewide decline because they emphasize high-end travel — while much of the falloff is in mid-range spenders and Japanese travelers more likely to visit O'ahu, said Fred Duerr, general manager of the Kona Village Resort on the Big Island.
"The general consensus here is that everyone is down 10 to 20 percent from last year," Duerr said. "They're not getting the great losses like we see in Waikiki."
On Maui, hotels say they are between 30 and 70 percent full, said Rosalyn Baker, the county's economic development coordinator. Kaua'i hotels are ranging from 70 percent full for high-end resorts, to less than 50 percent for lower-priced properties, said Gary Baldwin, president of the Kaua'i Economic Development Board. Timeshares on Kaua'i are reporting 80 percent occupancy, Baldwin said.
But small businesses — retailers, restaurants, tourism support businesses — have fared less well. Kaua'i-based Paradise Sportswear, maker of Red Dirt Shirts, has seen business drop by two-thirds from normal September levels, sales manager Eric Laub said.
Some of the company's wholesale customers — T-shirt stands on O'ahu in particular — have completely stopped orders and closed shop after getting zero-dollar sales days. Paradise has shortened hours at its T-shirt factory, laid off some managers and cut some salaries, Laub said.
Hilo Hattie in Lihu'e, Kaua'i, has shortened its open hours, though store manager Brad Gipolan said the retailer has avoided major cutbacks.
Gipolan and Laub said the situation is slowly improving. Others agree: Will Squyres Helicopter Tours in Lihu'e, for example, had its helicopters fully booked on Wednesday and Thursday last week — days when a cruise ship was in town — and the rest of the week was looking OK, manager Kathy McCarthy said.
"We had to lay some people off for a week or so, but we've already had to call them back," she said.
But the worry for many businesses is that residents, concerned about the future, will still be less likely to spend money in the coming months.
"It's hard to spend money if you're about to be laid off," said Takase of Deja Vu.
Chris Ono, a service desk representative for Pleasant Hawaiian at the Islander on the Beach resort in Wailua, Kaua'i, said a 10-hour-a-week cutback has changed his personal financial outlook.
"I have a car loan," Ono said. "And this makes me worry about how I'm going to make my payments."
