June jumped and July sizzles; hotel occupancies best since ’72

LIHU’E – Statewide June hotel occupancy was 80.5 percent, the highest rate

since 1972, and Kaua’i’s June occupancy rate of 81.4 percent was second only to

O’ahu’s 83.8 percent.

This island’s June occupancy rate showed the greatest

increase among the counties compared to June of last year, when the 71 percent

occupancy rate was 14.6 percent lower than last month’s.

For the first half

of this year, statewide occupancy (78.3 percent), and occupancies for all the

individual counties, were up compared to the first six months of

1999.

Kaua’i hotel occupancy for the first six months of this year was 75.9

percent, up from 71.7 percent for the same period last year.

Again, South

Shore properties led the way, with a 79 percent occupancy rate for the first

six months of this year, up from 75.8 percent during the same period in 1999,

according to statistics compiled by PKF-Hawai’i, a Honolulu management and

consulting firm.

The good news for accommodations statewide continues, as

June’s marks continue a string of five consecutive months of occupancy

increases, and a third straight month of at least 10-year highs in

occupancies.

Central Kaua’i, for example, saw an occupancy jump of 21.7

percent last month, to 79.2 percent from 65.1 percent in June of last

year.

“This is the fifth straight month of statewide occupancy and ADR

(average daily room rate) increases, which definitively tracks as an upward

trend,” said Ernie Watari, PKF-Hawai’i chairman and chief executive

officer.

RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) military exercises and an

international Lions Club convention added around 50,000 visitors to the June

mix, boosting it to an occupancy level not seen since 1972, when PKF-Hawai’i

first began keeping occupancy statistics for the Hawai’i Hotel

Association.

“Hopefully, this trend will continue through the rest of the

summer months, as U.S. travelers continue to be bullish about the more

expensive, long-haul travel to Hawai’i,” he said.

For June, North Shore

properties eclipsed South Shore accommodations, 83 percent to 82.5 percent,

respectively, with the South Shore’s rate up dramatically from the 72.7 percent

figure recorded in June of 1999.

For the hotel-only market, Kaua’i had the

highest occupancy rate in the state last month, at 86.2 percent, up from 73.3

in June of last year. South Shore hotels remained nearly full, at 90.2 percent,

and Eastside hotels were strong, at 80.7 percent, up from 66.3 percent.

For

the first six months of this year, Kaua’i’s hotels were at 80.5 percent

occupancy, up from 73.6 percent for the same period in 1999.

Resort

condominiums on the island (excluding timeshare properties) were at 70.5

percent occupancy last month, up from 66.1 percent the same period last

year.

For the first six months of this year, Kaua’i condominiums were at

65.6 percent occupancy, down from 67.7 percent for the same period in

1999.