While the Ocean Tourism Council reports activities are off statewide between 25 percent and 40 percent, and hotel occupancies were down in September and October and expected soft this month, there are some bright spots in the Kaua’i visitor economy.
While the Ocean Tourism Council reports activities are off statewide between 25 percent and 40 percent, and hotel occupancies were down in September and October and expected soft this month, there are some bright spots in the Kaua’i visitor economy.
Timeshare properties predict November and December occupancies will actually climb over 2 percent above forecasts, though hotels and resort condominiums project occupancy drops of around 20 percent or more each month the rest of this year.
Kaua’i enjoyed the state’s highest occupancy rate in September in both the overall market (59.1 percent) and hotel-only category (64 percent), according to figures from the Honolulu management and accounting firm PKF-Hawai’i.
Because of the events of September 11 and since then, though, the occupancy statistics for the entire state are way off compared to September of last year.
“Hawai’i’s tourism industry will be facing a tremendous challenge in recouping the losses (both financial and visitor arrivals) caused by this tragic event,” said Ernie Watari, PKF-Hawai’i chairman and chief executive officer.
Kaua’i’s overall occupancy rate of 59.1 percent in September is down from 76 percent recorded in the same month last year, though fueled by another strong month from the south shore is only off around 7 percent for the first nine months this year (70.7 percent) compared to the same period in 2000 (77.7 percent).
Even with the events of September, the hotel-only market on the south shore did well during the first nine months of this year (80.8 percent), still down from the record 87.3 percent occupancy rate recorded for the same period last year.
Resort condominiums on the island slumped below 50 percent last month for the first time in recent memory, coming in at an occupancy of 44.7 percent, off from 59.9 percent the same month last year.
South shore resort condominium occupancy rates fell to 36.3 percent last month, while island-wide the resort condominium occupancy rate for the first nine months fell to 59.4 percent from 66.2 percent over the same period last year.
According to information compiled by the KEDB, the island’s retail sectors aren’t in a panic mode, even while acknowledging sales are off.
