Hotel occupancy inches up
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
War fears caused a drop in the number of February tourists, but those who came stayed longer, helping to improve Hawai'i's hotel occupancy rate slightly over last year's tepid performance.
The small gain, however, means little to hoteliers because the tourism industry did so poorly last February when the tourism industry was still suffering from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack fallout, and they are continuing to struggle.
Statewide hotel occupancy increased 1.25 percentage points to 78.6 percent in February compared with the same period a year ago. In February, "the likelihood of a war became more apparent" and led to the drop in visitors, said Joseph Toy, president of Hospitality Advisors LLC whose company produced the hotel survey figures.
Hotels managed to improve on last year's numbers because visitors' average length of stay increased to 9.9 days, up from 9.4 days a year ago.
During times of economic uncertainty people tend to take fewer trips but stay longer, Toy said, which helps to fill hotel rooms. Tourists are also taking advantage of hotel offers of one or two free nights with a certain length of stay.
"That certainly helps to blunt the drop-off in arrivals," he said. "It's very similar to what happened in past recessions."
Despite the improvement, some hotel industry leaders see little to cheer.
"2002 was a very soft year, so to say that we're up 1.3 percent year-over-year is not something to celebrate about," said David Carey, chief executive of Outrigger Enterprises Inc. "It's disappointing that we weren't able to gain more winter business. I think February was terribly disappointing."
Luxury hotels had a 2.2 percentage point increase in occupancy to 76 percent as Japanese visitor arrivals increased 9.1 percent. Budget and economy properties also had improved occupancy levels, while mid-price and upscale properties saw occupancy dip.
O'ahu had the highest occupancy level among the counties at 80.5 percent, up 1.6 percentage points. Kaua'i had the lowest occupancy rate at 72.6 percent.
The average room rate was $145.75 in February, up 1.4 percent. Maui hotels were the most expensive at $196.15, while O'ahu hotels charged the least with an average daily rate of $116.42.
The survey results came from 160 properties representing 50,289 rooms, or 74.4 percent of all lodging properties in the state with 20 rooms or more.
While the shock and shutdown in travel after the Sept. 11 attacks led to an immediate drop in tourism, the current wartime slowdown may show up most dramatically in April's hotel occupancy figures and visitor traffic.
"We're gonna pay the price for a period of time," Carey said.
The tourism industry has been able to keep some business flowing because many who had planned trips before the war decided to come anyway, Toy said.
But March saw a decline in Japanese visitors who are disinclined to travel during war as well as U.S. West visitors who travel independently instead of with tours or groups.
Independent travelers tend to book later and are thus more likely to decide not to travel when sudden developments arise, Toy said. If the war made them hesitant to commit to vacation plans, it could mean fewer visitors in the Islands this month.
U.S. West visitors, about 34 percent of all visitors, are Hawai'i's largest market. Japanese make up about 24 percent of all visitors.
Separately, state figures released yesterday show a 2 percent decline in the total inventory of visitor accommodations to 70,783 units last year because of the closing of some properties following Sept. 11.
There has been little change in the number of rooms available for the past five years, which is good news for the tourism industry when fewer visitors are coming to the Islands.
"We still suffer from the falling demand but at least ... our supply is pretty stable," Toy said.
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470 or at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.
