Posted on: Friday, July 1, 2005

May tourism 'pretty crazy'

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

May is considered a "shoulder" month in the Hawai'i tourism industry, when business drops off a notch. But not this year.

Hawai'i's No. 1 industry set May records in three categories: total visitor arrivals, Mainland visitors and hotel room prices. Continued strength in the Mainland market and an improving Japanese market contributed to the tourism growth, adding more jobs and pumping cash into an already strong local economy.

"May was pretty crazy," said Andrea Hennings, who sells snorkel and dinner cruises on the Big Island's Kohala Coast for Red Sail Sports. "We were going out with full boats on almost all of our charters. ... Everybody seemed to have a really good month. I hope the business continues in that direction."

A total of 567,476 visitors came to Hawai'i in May, up 4 percent over the same month last year, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Visitor expenditures grew 4.9 percent to $845.5 million.

Meanwhile, a separate report showed that Hawai'i's May hotel occupancy of 76.6 percent was the third highest among the nation's top 25 markets, behind New York City and Washington, D.C. Statewide average daily room rates set a May record at $151.75, ranking second behind New York, hotel consultancy Hospitality Advisors LLC reported.

"Many times, May is a shoulder month," said Stan Brown, Marriott International's vice president for Pacific Islands and Japan.

"For us, quite honestly, it was a fantastic month. ... It continues to be very strong westbound business. Japan continues to rebound a little bit, and we're seeing some other markets pick up in strength. The benefit is it's a little more diversified in markets so the strength is coming from a lot of different areas. Certainly, at least through August, we see these trends continuing.

"Everybody's very happy for the moment but everybody should remember that things go in cycles and remember that we've got to continue to market for the future and not just say everything's great today. There's always a cycle and we've got to make sure we're proactive for future cycles."

This is clearly the part of the cycle businesses enjoy — nearly every number is up. Mainland tourists were up 4 percent at 409,316 in May from a year ago. The number of Japanese visitors grew 8.3 percent to 122,831. Visitor spending per day grew 2.7 percent to $176.20, and spending per trip increased 0.9 percent to $1,490.

Only Kaua'i (-1.1 percent) and Lana'i (-10.4 percent) didn't see more visitors in May. Moloka'i saw the highest percentage increase at 16.2 percent, followed by the Big Island (14.1 percent), O'ahu (2.9 percent) and Maui (0.1 percent).

In the meantime, Hawai'i's hotels were 76.6 percent full in May, up 4.2 percentage points over the same time a year ago.

Hotels sold about 1.5 million room nights — an increase of 3 percent — contributing to a total statewide room revenue of $222.8 million for the month.

Statewide revenue per available room, a key measure for profitability, grew 12.9 percent to $116.27, ranking second highest in the nation behind New York City.

Statewide budget and upscale properties saw the most growth in demand, although all categories saw increases in occupancy, rates and revenue per available room.

O'ahu had the highest occupancy among the major islands at 79.4 percent, up 7.4 percentage points. All islands saw higher occupancy rates except for Kaua'i, which fell from 78.1 percent to 75.1 percent. Every island, however, reported higher daily rates and revenue per available room.

The monthly hotel survey, compiled by Smith Travel Research with Hospitality Advisors, averages more than 145 properties representing about 48,794 rooms reporting, or 78 percent of all lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the state.

"The latest data continue the strong and positive trend we have seen in our visitor industry since late 2003," said state Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert. "We are definitely headed for a record-breaking performance in arrivals this year — barring any unforeseen economic disruptions brought on by global events."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2470.