Hawai‘i Island, State Report Tourism Gains

Image courtesy of HTA

Hawai‘i Tourism numbers, both for Hawai‘i County and the state as a whole, were up in July 2019 as compared to the same time last year.

According to a Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) release, Hawai‘i hotels statewide reported growth in revenue per available room (RevPAR), average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy. Contributing to this growth, hotels on Hawai‘i Island reported significant gains, continuing a trend from June 2019.

According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by HTA, statewide RevPAR increased to $260 (+5.2%), with ADR of $305 (+3.9%) and occupancy of 85.2% (+1 percentage point) in July.

HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands, the release said.

In July, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues grew by 3.5% to $434.8 million, approximately $14.6 million higher than last year. There were approximately 27,700 fewer available room nights (-1.6%) in July with room demand similar to 2018. Several hotel properties across the state were closed for renovation or had rooms out of service for renovation during July.

All classes of Hawai‘i hotel properties statewide reported RevPAR gains for the month of July 2019. Luxury Class properties reported a strong increase in RevPAR to $506 (+11%) with ADR of $603 (+3.7%) and occupancy of 83.9% (+5.5 percentage points). Midscale and Economy Class hotels reported RevPAR of $155 (+1.7%) with ADR of $183 (+0.4%) and occupancy of 84.3% (+1 percentage points).

Among the state’s four island counties, Maui County hotels led the state in RevPAR at $359 (+9.3%), ADR of $436 (+7.7%) and occupancy of 82.2% (+1.2 percentage points). Maui County was led by the strong performance of properties in Wailea, which earned RevPAR of $640 (+13.6%), ADR of $697 (+12.2%), and 91.7% occupancy (+1.1 percentage points).

Hotels on Hawai‘i Island saw increases in RevPAR to $223 (+19%), ADR of $266 (+9.1%) and occupancy at 83.6% (+7 percentage points) in July compared to the same time last year. Most notably, Kohala Coast hotels had a 30% increase in RevPAR to $324 compared to last July, along with strong growth in ADR to $376 (+10.7%) and occupancy of 86.3% (+12.8 percentage points). In May 2018, Kīlauea volcano started erupting in lower Puna, which contributed to a downturn in visitors to the Big Island in the following months.

O‘ahu hotels reported higher RevPAR in July of $230 (+1.4%) compared to a year ago, with growth in ADR to $261 (+1.3%) and occupancy that was similar to last year at 87.9% (+0.1 percentage points). Waikiki hotels performed similarly to last July.

Kaua‘i hotels reported lower performance compared to last July with decreases in RevPAR to $233 (-5.7%), ADR of $301 (-3%) and occupancy of 77.5% (-2.2 percentage points).

Tables of hotel performance statistics, including data presented in the report, are available for viewing online.