HTA Hotel Numbers Up in June, Down in 2019

Halfway through 2019, hotels across Hawai‘i have been a little emptier and made a little less revenue per room than during the same time period last year.

Through the first six months of 2019, Hawai‘i hotels statewide reported flat average daily rate (ADR) and lower occupancy, which resulted in lower revenue per available room (RevPAR) compared to the first half of 2018, according to a release from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA). However, hotels in the Hawaiian Islands still recorded the highest average RevPAR and ADR of the top U.S. markets during this timeframe.

According to the Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report published by HTA, statewide RevPAR declined to $226 (-1.1%), with ADR at $280 (+0.9%) and occupancy of 80.7% (-1.6 percentage points) in the first half of 2019.

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.

For the first half of 2019, Hawai‘i hotel room revenues decreased by 2.6% to $2.21 billion. There were about 150,000 fewer available room nights (-1.5%) and more than 284,000 fewer occupied room nights (-3.5%) compared to the first half of 2018. Several hotel properties across the state were closed for renovation or had rooms out of service for renovation during the first half of 2019.

Luxury Class properties reported RevPAR of $429 (-1.1%), with ADR at $560 (-0.7%) and occupancy of 76.6% (-0.3 percentage points). Midscale & Economy Class hotels reported RevPAR of $145 (-5.8%), with ADR at $176 (-1.7%) and occupancy of 82% (-3.6 percentage points).

Hotel Results by County

Hotels on the Hawai‘i Island reported a decline in RevPAR to $206 (-4.1%), with decreases in both ADR to $267 (-0.4%) and occupancy of 77% (-3 percentage points).

Through the first six months of 2019, Maui County hotels led Hawai‘i’s four island counties in RevPAR at $316 (+0.8%), with ADR at $402 (+0.8%) and no change in occupancy at 78.6%.

O‘ahu hotels earned slightly lower RevPAR of $194 (-0.5%), with ADR at $233 (+0.9%) and occupancy of 83.3% (-1.2 percentage points).

Kaua‘i hotels’ RevPAR decreased to $213 (-10%), with declines in both ADR to $288 (-1%) and occupancy of 74% (-7.4 percentage points).

June 2019 Hotel Performance

For the month of June, RevPAR statewide grew to $236 (+4.2%), with ADR at $280 (+2.2%) and occupancy of 84.1% (+1.6 percentage points). Contributing to this growth, hotels on Hawai‘i Island reported significant gains in RevPAR, ADR and occupancy.

In June, Hawaii hotel room revenues statewide increased 2.5% to $382.4 million. There were approximately 3,800 more occupied room nights (+0.3%) and nearly 27,000 fewer available room nights (-1.6%) compared to a year ago. Several hotel properties across the state were closed for renovation or had rooms out of service for renovation during June. However, the number of rooms out of service may be under-reported.

Luxury Class properties led in growth of RevPAR at $443 (+10.4%) in June, which was driven by increases in occupancy to 80.9% (+6.6 percentage points) and ADR to $548 (+1.5%). Midscale & Economy Class hotels reported RevPAR of $142 (-3.2%) with ADR at $174 (-1%) and occupancy of 81.8% (-1.8 percentage points).

In June, hotels on the Hawai‘i Island saw increases in RevPAR to $196 (+17.2%), ADR to $250 (+5.7%), and occupancy to 78.7% (+7.7 percentage points) compared to a year ago. In May of 2018, Kīlauea volcano started erupting in lower Puna, which contributed to a downturn in visitors to the Big Island in succeeding months.

Maui County hotels in June reported the highest RevPAR of all four counties at $318 (+8.1%), which was supported by increases in ADR to $394 (+3.3%) and occupancy of 80.9% (+3.6 percentage points).

The performance of O‘ahu hotels in June was similar to a year ago, with RevPAR of $213 (+0.9%), ADR at $243 (+0.9%), and no change in occupancy of 87.9%.

RevPAR for Kaua‘i hotels fell to $211 (-7.5%) in June, with declines in both ADR to $279 (-3.9%) and occupancy to 75.7% (-3.0 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/.