Hawai'i travel bookings down 40% for Sept. 11
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hesitation about traveling on the Sept. 11 anniversary of the terrorist attacks is taking a toll on Hawai'i's struggling tourism industry as visitor-industry businesses say bookings are off as much as 40 percent for the week.
The drop for businesses ranging from hotels and airlines to dinner-cruise companies comes at a crucial time as the state's tourism industry begins to cope with an already sluggish month as families get ready for a new school year and the summer travel season winds down.
"September is certainly not the greatest month to begin with, but this is certainly well below normal," said Murray Towill, president of the Hawai'i Hotel Association. "The whole anniversary of Sept. 11 — I think people are staying close to home, perhaps don't want to be traveling."
While it's unclear exactly how much business will be off in the state's No. 1 industry in mid-September, industry experts say that airlines' announcements of flight cuts that day serve as a predictor of the smaller crowds expected on Sept. 11 and the days surrounding it.
Hawaiian Airlines has said it will cut three of its usual 14 daily round-trip Mainland-Hawai'i flights Sept. 11. Aloha Airlines said yesterday it plans to operate all of its regularly scheduled flights Sept. 11, but Continental Airlines said yesterday it will cut one of its two round-trip flights from Houston to Honolulu that day because of reduced demand.
"If the demand were there, the airlines would have enough capacity," said Joseph Toy, president and chief executive of consulting firm Hospitality Advisors LLC. "It'll be interesting to see if we see a sharp spike downward. Throughout the travel industry on the Mainland, we're seeing very soft bookings for that period."
Hotels are also feeling the pinch. Reservations at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. are down about 39 percent in Waikiki during the Sept. 7 to Sept. 15 period from year-ago levels, and down about 34 percent at the company's hotels on the Neighbor Islands.
"Overall we have a soft September," said Keith Vieira, Starwood's senior vice president and regional director of operations. "We don't know if it's 9/11 related ... but it's no question we have a soft September."
That compounds the effects of a very sluggish year for Starwood, said spokesman David Uchiyama. Uchiyama said Starwood's occupancy rates continue to trail normal occupancy by about 12 percent to 15 percent. Starwood's properties include the Sheraton Waikiki, the Sheraton Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian.
Marriott has seen about a 15 percent to 20 percent drop in eastbound bookings at its Waikiki hotels for the first two weeks of September compared with the same time a year ago, though westbound bookings are about even, said area director Stan Brown.
"In the outer islands it's proportionally not as big an issue," Brown said.
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts has only about a 2 percent drop in business on Sept. 11 compared with the rest of the week, but "there is a larger concern with September on an overall basis," said Rob Solomon, Outrigger's senior vice president.
The hotelier, which has more than 12,000 hotel rooms and condominium units in the Pacific region, said bookings for the entire month of September are down about 15 percent from last year.
Part of the drop in business is travelers' concerns about flying on Sept. 11, said Angie Borrelli, a travel agent with Peak Travel Group in San Jose, Calif., who specializes in trips to Hawai'i.
"Some people could care less because they figure it's fine," Borrelli said. On the other hand, "a lot of people are waiting and making their decision a little bit later on. Some of them are pretty frightened that something will happen again."
United Airlines spokesman Jeff Green said the airline's weak bookings for Sept. 11 travel could also be a reflection of something more than fear.
"There are a lot of people that day that don't want to fly. A lot of people that day might want to be with family or at memorial ceremonies depending on how they were affected a year ago," Green said.
Dolphin Quest Oahu, which sells dolphin encounters, has been fully booked for the past two months, but general manager Brad Holmes expects to see about 20 percent fewer customers Sept. 11. Dolphin Quest can take as many as 50 customers a day.
Ron Howard, president of Paradise Cruise Ltd., which offers dinner cruises and daytime cruises aboard the Star of Honolulu, said he anticipates business will be slow for the five days before and after Sept. 11.
"Certainly, we have some sore times right around 9/11, when we expect that people will be traveling less," Howard said. "We would probably reflect whatever the drop of arrivals is."
At ANA Hallo Tours, which caters to Japanese visitors, bookings are down about 10 percent for Sept. 11 compared with the rest of September, in a year that is slower than last year because of fewer arrivals from Nagoya, said Eiji Miyamoto, general manager of ANA Hallo Tours in Waikiki.
Blue Hawai'i Vacations, a tour planning company on Maui, has one person booked for Sept. 11. On a good day, Blue Hawai'i has 10 to 15 customers a day; in early September there are typically four to five a day.
"It looks like it's down that one day, but only that one day," said Blue Hawai'i president Thomas Low. "They're cutting back on flights — I think that triggers something in people."
Borrelli, the California travel agent, also said changing travel behavior among consumers — many of whom have started waiting later to book vacations — could mean that numbers for Sept. 11 travel could climb in the next few weeks.
"They kind of decide, and boom, they want to go," Borrelli said. And the period after Sept. 11 looks better, she said.
"It looks a little slow, but I know that it's going to pick up after the 11th. ... A lot of them are calling to get information about what is available in the fall."
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470, or at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.
