The global economic slowdown helped push Hawai'i hotel occupancy in October to its lowest level since the month after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Hotel guests filled only 67.1 percent of rooms statewide, down 6.5 percentage points from a year earlier, according to a report by Hospitality Advisors LLC.

The softer hotel performance reflects the 13.5 percent drop in visitor arrivals reported in October by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Hospitality Advisors President Joseph Toy said Hawai'i hotels showed declines in occupancy on all islands and in hotels ranging from economy to luxury class.

The last October that showed lower occupancy was the month after Sept. 11, 2001, when occupancy fell to 57.3 percent. By the following year, it had rebounded to 68 percent and had been on the increase since then, he said.

Toy said the average daily rate charged by hotels fell by 3.4 percent to $177.41, which was the largest monthly decline in that key rate so far this year.

Franz S. Hanning, CEO and president of Wyndham Vacation Management, commented on the weak situation in Hawai'i in a conference call on Tuesday with investors.

"Just to talk a little bit about Hawai'i, which (for) a couple of our major competitors that is a real weakness ... and certainly we are seeing some effect," he said. "Our tour flow is down about 14 percent in Hawai'i."

Wyndham operates about a dozen time-share properties in Hawai'i, including Wyndham Waikiki Beach Walk on O'ahu.

Different businesses are affected in different ways. So far, business at Lulu's Waikiki is brisk. It's down a tick compared with last December, but nothing to write home about.

After the Honolulu Marathon yesterday, about half the ocean-view second-floor restaurant was filled with runners and their families. It's been like this pretty consistently, said Matt Castiglione, restaurant manager.

"We seem to be recession-proof so far," Castiglione said. "It may be our location, or the proximity to parking, but we're holding our own."

What's also helping the restaurant is its reputation for large portions and ability to host private parties. Last night the restaurant closed early for a post-marathon party. And Saturday it was closed to the public for a company holiday party.

"I heard that some other restaurants are really hurting," he said. "Some are not renewing their leases and business is way down."

Shane Burgum, a Lulu's shift leader, said he heard from other friends in the tourism industry at other properties in Waikiki that after the new year business drops off the chart.

"Some of the hotels in town have full occupancy now because of the marathon, but after, well, it's the recession," Burgum said.

At Del Sol, a clothing boutique on Kalakaua Avenue, a few shoppers were examining merchandise yesterday. Gabby Perez, who works at the store, said sales are way down this year. And it's the same way at businesses up and down Waikiki.

"For this week, it was really good because of the marathon," Perez said. "But after today it will really drop off. Normally Christmas is a really good time for us."

CONTINUOUS DROP

The only bright spot in the report was occupancy at budget properties, which reported a 0.7 percentage point increase for October.

The October occupancy downturn was the eighth-straight month that statewide hotel usage has dropped compared with a year earlier.

On an island-by-island basis, O'ahu occupancy fell the least with a 1.5 percentage point decrease to 73.2 percent, and showed the highest occupancy statewide.

Maui reported the largest occupancy decline of all the Islands, with a 13.1 percentage point drop to 61.6 percent for October. The Maui resort region of Lahaina-Ka'anapali-Kapalua felt the sharpest decrease in occupancy statewide with a 16.5 percentage point decline from last year to 61.8 percent.

The Big Island had the largest average daily rate drop: 7.2 percent to $170.24. Maui did pull the highest island average daily rate at $220.35, but that was still behind last year by 1.6 percent.

On Kaua'i, average daily rate declined 3.4 percent to $185 for the month. And on O'ahu, average daily rate fell 2.4 percent to $159.57.

REVENUE PER ROOM

Another key indicator for the industry is revenue per available room, which declined by 12 percent statewide during October with the Big Island reporting the largest decline of 23.1 percent down to $92.01.

Maui saw the second-highest revenue per available room decline with an 18.9 percent drop to $135.66. Kaua'i fell by 13 percent to $130.67, while O'ahu had the smallest decline in this category of 4.3 percent to $116.85 for October.

Economy properties reported the biggest drop in occupancy: 9.4 percentage points, to 64.3 percent occupancy in October. Meanwhile, occupancy at budget properties increased slightly by 0.7 percentage points, to 71.8 percent, said Hospitality Advisors' Toy.

O'ahu's least-expensive properties reported the best performance for the month due in part to an increase in budget-conscious Canadian travelers staying exclusively on O'ahu, Toy said.

The hotel survey is compiled by Smith Travel Research in conjunction with Hospitality Advisors. The survey included 160 properties representing 46,545 rooms, or 83 percent of all lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the state of Hawai'i, including full service, limited service and condominium hotels.