East Kaua’i properties had the island’s highest occupancy rate last month, at 74 percent, although Kaua’i overall recorded the state’s lowest occupancy rate among the counties, at 72 percent. According to figures compiled for the Hawaii Hotel Association by the
East Kaua’i properties had the island’s highest occupancy rate last month, at 74 percent, although Kaua’i overall recorded the state’s lowest occupancy rate among the counties, at 72 percent.
According to figures compiled for the Hawaii Hotel Association by the Honolulu accounting and management firm PKF-Hawaii, Kaua’i also experienced the second-steepest drop in February 2002 occupancy rates compared to February of last year.
Kaua’i felt a 7.8 percent drop in February occupancies, with only the Big Island dropping more, to 76.4 percent last month from 85.8 percent in February of last year.
O’ahu occupancy for the total market (hotel rooms and resort condominium units) was 83 percent last month, down from 88.9 percent in February of 2001, while Maui county seemed closest to a return to normal occupancies, recording an 81.3 percent occupancy rate last month compared to 85.9 percent in February of last year.
Statewide occupancy last month was 80.5 percent, down from 86.6 percent in February of 2001.
For the first two months of this year, Kaua’i’s occupancy rate was also the lowest among the counties, at 64.4 percent, down from 71.1 percent for the same period in 2001. O’ahu again led the counties for the first two months, at 75.4 percent compared to 85.6 percent over the same period last year.
Maui was second, at 74.6 percent, down from 82.3 percent, with the Big Island at 72.3 percent over the first two months of this year, off from 79.2 percent over the same period last year.
Eastside properties did best among the Kaua’i regions for the first two months of this year, coming in at 67.5 percent, down from 74 percent for the same period in 2001. South Kaua’i properties were next, at 61.3 percent, down from 69 percent, followed by North Shore accommodations, at 56.1 percent, off from 60.8 percent for the same period last year.
Statewide occupancy for the first two months this year was 73.6 percent, down from 82.3 percent over the same period of 2001.
In the hotel-only market, Kaua’i came close to tying the Big Island for third place among the counties last month, coming in at 75.3 percent, down from 83.8 percent. The Big Island was at 75.9 percent, down from 85.9 percent in February of last year.
With strong numbers on Maui and O’ahu, statewide hotel-only occupancy last month was a robust 80.9 percent, though still down from 87.3 percent recorded in February 2001.
For the hotel-only market for the first two months of this year, Kaua’i and east Kaua’i were nearly identical, under 67.5 percent, off from 74.3 percent and 73.3 percent, respectively, in the first two months of 2001.
To avoid reporting occupancy rates of individual properties, north and south Kaua’i hotel-only occupancies were not listed by PKF-Hawaii. In the hotel-only market, statewide occupancy for the first two months this year was 74.1 percent, off from 82.9 percent over the same period last year.
O’ahu and Maui recorded the same hotel-only occupancies for this year’s first two months, 75.6 percent, both off from low to mid-80s for the same period last year. The Big Island was also better than Kaua’i in the hotel-only market for the first two months of this year, at 71.8 percent, down from 79.1 percent over the same period in 2001.
East Kaua’i resort condominiums were the island’s best both last month (73.1 percent) and for the first two months this year (67.7 percent), but overall Kaua’i resort condominium occupancy lagged considerably behind state and individual-island averages over both time periods.
The Kaua’i resort-condominium occupancy rate does not include timeshare units.
Kaua’i’s resort condominium occupancy rate was 64.7 percent in February, and 57.8 percent for the first two months, while the state average was 78.3 percent last month and 71 percent for the first two months. The other islands recorded resort condominium occupancies in the 80s last month, and ranged from low to high 70s for the first two months.
The firm compared overall state occupancy rates, and average daily room rates, for monthly periods of September 2000 to February 2001, and September 2001 to February 2002, and while statewide occupancy rates varied substantially on all month-to-month comparisons except the last two Februarys, average daily room rates stayed nearly the same.
“February, traditionally one of the strongest months for tourism, recorded an impressive 80.48 percent statewide occupancy, the first month since 9/11 that showed less than double-digit decreases in occupancy,” said Ernie Watari, PKF-Hawaii chairman and chief executive officer.
“It is encouraging to see tourism starting to rebound, and it is evident that visitors are starting to overcome the fear of traveling,” he added.
