Hawai´i Hotels See Meaningful Bounce Back in April

Hawai´i’s hotel occupancy rate exceeded 50% in April, a statistic that would have been abysmal pre-pandemic but is a sign of the slow climb back toward normal as travel to the Hawaiian Islands continues to pick up.

Hotels statewide reported substantially higher revenue per available room (RevPAR), average daily rate (ADR), and occupancy compared to April 2020, which was the first full month of the devastating impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hawai´i’s quarantine order for travelers due to the COVID-19 pandemic began on March 26, 2020, which immediately resulted in dramatic declines for the hotel industry. Year-to-date, the statistics for statewide hotel RevPAR and occupancy were much lower compared to the first four months of 2020.

According to the Hawai´i Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawai´i Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Research Division, statewide RevPAR in April 2021 was $153, which was more than 1,000 percent higher than last April. ADR was more than double last year’s level ($300, +138.6%), and occupancy was 50.8 percent (+42.0 percentage points).

The report’s findings utilized data compiled by STR, Inc., which conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For April, the survey included 138 properties representing 43,760 rooms, or 81 percent of all lodging properties and 84.4 percent of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service, and condominium hotels. Vacation rental and timeshare properties were not included in this survey.

During April 2021, most passengers arriving from out-of-state and traveling inter-county could bypass the state’s mandatory 10-day self-quarantine with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a Trusted Testing Partner through the Safe Travels program. All trans-Pacific travelers participating in the pre-travel testing program were required to have a negative test result before their departure to Hawai´i. Kaua´i County rejoined the Safe Travels program on April 5, 2021. The counties of Hawai´i, Maui and Kalawao (Moloka´i) also had a partial quarantine in place in April.

Hawai´i hotel room revenues statewide rose to $237.2 million (+2,210.8%) in April. Room demand was 789,800 room nights (+868.5%) and room supply was 1.6 million room nights (+67.3%). Many properties closed or reduced operations starting in April 2020. If occupancy for April 2021 was calculated based on the pre-pandemic room supply from April 2019, occupancy would be 12.2 percent for the month. Due to these supply reductions, comparative data for certain markets and prices classes were not available for April.

Luxury Class properties earned RevPAR of $335, with ADR at $720 and occupancy of 46.5 percent. Midscale & Economy Class properties earned RevPAR of $148 (+616.2%) with ADR at $261 (+186.8%) and occupancy of 56.8 percent (+34.0 percentage points).

Hotels on the island of Hawai´i reported RevPAR at $175 (+1,360.3%), with ADR at $326 (+205.0%) and occupancy of 53.7 percent (+42.5 percentage points). Kohala Coast hotels earned RevPAR of $303, with ADR at $471, and occupancy of 64.4 percent.

Kaua´i hotels earned RevPAR of $91 (+883.5%), with ADR at $248 (+86.8%) and occupancy of 36.9 percent (+29.9 percentage points).

Maui County hotels led the counties in April RevPAR of $300 (+2,220%), with ADR at $483 (+333.5%) and occupancy of 62.1 percent (+50.5 percentage points). Maui’s luxury resort region of Wailea had RevPAR of $420, with ADR at $773 and occupancy of 54.4 percent. The Lahaina/Kaanapali/Kapalua region had RevPAR of $251 (+6,222.4%), ADR at $399 (+407.2%) and occupancy of 62.9 percent (+57.8 percentage points).

O´ahu hotels reported RevPAR of $91 (+758.8%) in April, ADR at $193 (+40.8%) and occupancy of 47.0 percent (+39.3 percentage points). Waikiki hotels earned $84 (+1,147.3%) in RevPAR with ADR at $181 (+37.1%) and occupancy of 46.4 percent (+41.3 percentage points).

Tables of hotel performance statistics, including data presented in the report are available for viewing online at https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/research/infrastructure-research/.