Hawai‘i Hotel Revenues Continue to Close in on Pre-Pandemic Levels

Hotel revenues in December bested last year’s numbers, and almost matched pre-pandemic figures.

Hawai‘i hotels statewide reported substantially higher revenue per available room, average daily rate, and occupancy in December 2021 compared to December 2020 when the state’s quarantine order for travelers due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in dramatic declines for the hotel industry, according to data provided by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. When compared to December 2019, the statewide average daily rate, or ADR and revenue per room, or RevPAR, was higher in December 2021, but occupancy declined.

“Hawaii’s hotels continued their upward momentum in December, with strong RevPAR and ADR helping to end the year on a high note and sustain employment across the islands,” said John De Fries, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority president and CEO, in a press release Tuesday, Jan. 25. “Domestic leisure market demand remained strong through the holidays, despite global uncertainty of the Omicron variant’s impact on travel. However, business, group and international travel continue to lag behind pre-pandemic levels of performance.”

According to the Hawaii Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, HTA, statewide RevPAR in December 2021 was $305 (+341.9%), with ADR at $419 (+44.2%) and occupancy of 72.7% (+49 percentage points) compared to December 2020. Compared with December 2019, RevPAR was 7.6 percent higher, driven by higher ADR (+18.8%) which offset lower occupancy (-7.5 percentage points).

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

View the full news release here.

In December 2021, domestic passengers could bypass the state’s mandatory 10-day self-quarantine if they were fully vaccinated in the United States or with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a Trusted Testing Partner prior to their departure through the Safe Travels program. Beginning Dec. 6, passengers arriving on direct international flights were subjected to federal U.S. entry requirements which included proof of a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 24 hours of travel or documentation of having recovered from COVID-19 in the past 90 days, prior to their flight.

Hawaii hotel room revenues statewide rose to $518 million (+375.8% vs. 2020, +9.6% vs. 2019) in December. Room demand was 1.2 million room nights (+230.0% vs. 2020, -7.7% vs. 2019) and room supply was 1.7 million room nights (+7.7% vs. 2020, +1.8% vs. 2019) (Figure 2). Many properties closed or reduced operations starting in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maui County hotels led the counties in December and achieved RevPAR that surpassed December 2019.

Hotels on the island of Hawai‘i reported RevPAR at $359 (+318.2% vs. 2020, +37.3% vs. 2019), with ADR at $489 (+50.9% vs. 2020, +48.6% vs. 2019), and occupancy of 73.5 percent (+47.0 percentage points vs. 2020, -6.1 percentage points vs. 2019). Kohala Coast hotels earned RevPAR of $581 (+298.2% vs. 2020, +49.2% vs. 2019), with ADR at $830 (+52.6% vs. 2020, +68.7% vs. 2019), and occupancy of 69.9 percent (+43.1 percentage points vs. 2020, -9.1 percentage points vs. 2019).

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 December, the survey included 148 properties representing 46,751 rooms, or 85.3% of all lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including those offering full service, limited service, and condominium hotels. Vacation rental and timeshare properties were not included in the survey.