Fewer international visitors seen

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

International hotel visitors dropped sharply in March as war fears and the threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome heightened, but overall hotels made do with a slight increase over last year as less skittish Canadians and Mainlanders continued to travel to the Islands.

Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa doorman Michael Negrey helps arriving guests with their luggage. Business at the ritzy hotel dropped in March because of fewer international and high-end travelers . Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The numbers for March suggest that while Hawai'i hotels took a hit from the double effects of war and SARS, it was far from the debacle that some in the industry feared. April is expected to see the same pattern, with international travel continuing its decline and domestic and Canadian travel propping up occupancy, keeping the hotel industry stabilized.

Still, hoteliers have seen much better days and many are looking to the summer for relief from depressed occupancy levels.

Since hotels were still suffering from the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks last March, Hawai'i might have seen better numbers last month if not for the world events that have ravaged the tourism and aviation industries worldwide.

Compared to 2000 and 2001, especially good years for Hawai'i tourism, last month's occupancy was significantly lower. The average statewide hotel occupancy rate was 82.1 percent in March 2002 and 78.5 percent in March 2001.

The hotels' showing in March demonstrated the sensitivity to war and SARS of international visitors, particularly Japanese travelers. On the other hand, North American visitors, especially cost-conscious ones, were more willing to travel in uncertain times.

An 18.4 percent drop in Japanese visitor days kept upscale and luxury hotel occupancy below last year's levels.

Ron Nomura, senior director of marketing for the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, said he has seen business at the ritzy resort suffer. On O'ahu, "high-end properties have a lot of Japanese travelers and Japanese travelers were not traveling," he said.

"It'll probably carry into April as well," he said. "For the recovery we've got to look down the road."

At lower-end hotels, Canadian visitors boosted their visitor days by a 20.6 percent increase. Economy hotels averaged 77.6 percent occupancy, up from 71.3 percent a year ago. Lower-cost budget hotels' occupancy levels increased to 79 percent from 76 percent a year ago.

"When you look at some of the middle-of-the-road to budget hotels they seem to be very full," Nomura said.

The average daily hotel room rate statewide fell to $146.81 from $147.65 last March, a measure that hotels watch closely.

All islands had modest increases in occupancy. O'ahu had the smallest increase at 0.6 percentage points to 71.9 percent, while the Big Island had the largest increase of 2.3 percentage points to 73.1 percent.

For the first three months of 2003, hotel occupancy averaged 74.5 percent, up from 71.5 percent in the same period last year, again a depressed period. The average daily rate increased to $147.08 from $144.47 last year.

"We were certainly hoping for an improvement during the first quarter given how poor last year's first quarter was," said Hospitality Advisors President Joseph Toy.

Tourism industry executives say they hope the summer will bring a rebound for travel to Hawai'i.

"There does seem to be some optimism for the summer," Toy said.

Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470 or at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.