Perhaps it’s the lowering of fares to entice international travel at a time when September 11th and subsequent world events remain fresh in the minds of Americans. Or maybe it’s that carriers understand there is still sizable demand for travel
Perhaps it’s the lowering of fares to entice international travel at a time when September 11th and subsequent world events remain fresh in the minds of Americans.
Or maybe it’s that carriers understand there is still sizable demand for travel to Hawai’i, so no real need to dramatically cut fares from the mainland to island destinations.
Likely, it is a combination of the two, with other factors sprinkled in as well. But after a discussion in The Garden Island of the high cost of getting to Hawai’i and Kaua’i from the mainland, people called to tell us that they or their friends opted for travel to Europe or the Caribbean instead of Kaua’i this winter because of low eastbound fares.
A frequent visitor to Kaua’i said seven of his friends from North Carolina, including some who have come to the island every year for the past two decades and own property on the island, went to Europe or the Caribbean instead of coming here recently.
Given the choice of $780 round-trip airfare per person for Kaua’i or fares to London, Madrid and Paris for under $500 round-trip, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out which direction the regular Kaua’i visitors flew last month.
Frequent visitors from Seattle reported the same phenomenon, with airfares higher to travel halfway across the Pacific to Hawai’i than to fly halfway around the world, including the transcontinental trip, to European destinations.
Ted Matthews, a regular Kaua’i visitor from the Seattle area who was staying in Kalaheo recently, said friends of his who own a timeshare unit on Kaua’i opted earlier this year for Paris because the airfare was substantially cheaper eastbound than westbound.
Publicly, major carriers like United Airlines, which has the most seats offered between the West Coast and Hawai’i, says it tries to keep fares competitive, offering specials like a recent round of fare-slashing that was matched by other carriers in the same markets and on the same routes.
Privately, though, some United managers say that if there is strong demand for a certain island or a certain route, say San Francisco to Lihu’e or Los Angeles to Lihu’e, it makes little sense to slash fares to promote even more travel when those planes are already full.
The potential gravity of the situation isn’t lost on Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua’i Visitors Bureau, who said large differences in airfares between Hawai’i and competing vacation destinations can make travelers re-think destination choices.
But until she hears lots of complaints either from visitors who feel they paid too much to get here, or from others who opted for other destinations because the airfares were just too low to pass up, she’ll stay the course and keep promoting Kaua’i as a destination that is romantic and secluded, offers unparalleled physical attributes and ample attractions and activities, friendly people, and is part of America.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
