LIHU‘E — Hotel occupancy and visitor spending levels continued to climb during November, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and Hospitality Advisors reports indicate. “We are very pleased with the latest report from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and DBEDT (Department of Business, Economic
LIHU‘E — Hotel occupancy and visitor spending levels continued to climb during November, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and Hospitality Advisors reports indicate.
“We are very pleased with the latest report from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and DBEDT (Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism) that shows Kaua‘i’s visitor arrivals were up 14.6 percent over the same period in 2009,” said Kaua‘i Economic Development Director George Costa. “There were over 71,000 visitor arrivals to our island, which was the sixth straight month of continued improvement.”
The highlights for Kaua‘i in November, says HTA, was a 76 percent increase in visitors from Japan and a 44 percent increase in visitors from Canada compared to the same month 2009.
“International visitor arrivals are also up significantly, with 75,296 year to date and a 24 percent increase,” Costa said. “Much of these come from our Canadian friends who accounted for 21 percent of that increase.”
Total visitor arrivals year to date are up 4 percent (883,841) compared to 2009, and visitor days have increased 5 percent. For the state, the average length of stay is flat at 0.3 percent, visitor days are up 9 percent, and arrivals are up 9 percent to 6.5 million.
Tourists are coming to Kaua‘i primarily for vacations and pleasure, the report shows, and the majority of visitors continue to hail from the US mainland.
In addition to staying longer, visitors claim they are spending more money shopping on all islands. Compared to November 2009, visitors spent 30 percent more statewide and 20 percent more ($88.3 million) in Kaua‘i. Year-to-date spending is also up, 13 percent in Kaua‘i and 16 percent statewide. Per-person per-day spending year to date has increased 7 percent both in Kaua‘i ($168) and statewide ($172).
Total air seats to Lihu‘e to date have increased 6 percent, as well as for the state.
Cruise ship visitors to the island increased 21 percent compared to the same period 2009 and 4 percent year to date. The number of international cruises scheduled to dock at Nawilwili Harbor this year have increased 26 percent compared to 2010.
Costa attributes some of the improvements in visitor arrivals to the taxpayer-funded marketing efforts of Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau.
“Last year (2009) the County provided $1 million in visitor industry stimulus funding, which we project has resulted in close to $30 million in additional spending on Kaua‘i,” Costa said. “We are currently proposing to provide more stimulus funds — in a much smaller amount — to build upon that success and keep the numbers on an upward trend.”
Hospitality Advisors reports an average occupancy of 51 percent for Kaua‘i in November, the lowest among all of the islands, but still 4 percent higher than 2009, the company’s “Hawai‘i Hotel Flash Report” newsletter said. Statewide, hotel occupancy averaged 68 percent, which is a 7 percent increase.
“Quite often the hotel occupancies reported each month is used as a gauge to see how well our visitor industry is doing, and this may not always be the case,” Costa said. “Kaua‘i has a unique situation where approximately 28 percent of accommodations are hotel rooms, 27.8 percent condominium-hotel rooms, 24.7 percent timeshare, 17.6 percent vacation rentals and 1.9 percent in bed and breakfast and hostel units.
“As you can see from the visitor arrivals, Kaua‘i is one of the favorite destinations among timeshare owners, condominium owners and guests, and those that enjoy the comforts of a home away from home.”
Year-to-date occupancy levels for Kaua‘i is 60 percent, up from 58 percent for the same period 2009, and statewide occupancy is 71 percent, up from 65 percent.
Kaua‘i’s average daily room rate for November is up 55 cents to $175.71, but the year-to-date average is down nearly $5 to $182.21.
Much of HTA and Hospitality Advisors’ data is based largely on voluntary surveys. It does may not necessarily provide an accurate accounting of economic activity.
Visitor spending data, for example, is collected by HTA using survey forms that are provided to visitors upon departure. The form asks visitors to estimate how much money they spent shopping during their stay. That information is then gathered and reported monthly as total visitor spending.
Sales tax revenues may provide a more accurate picture of the economic activity of an area; however, it is difficult to separate local from visitor spending.
Hospitality Advisors uses a monthly hotelier survey compiled by Smith Travel to determine occupancy levels and rates. The numbers hoteliers provide are not always accurate and not all choose to participate each month.
Therefore, it may be helpful to view transient accommodations tax revenues in addition to surveys to determine the activity of the state or a given island.
Normally, DBEDT provides county revenue figures for the previous month in their monthly Economic Indicators report. The agency has yet to provide the information for November.
A source at DBEDT said the agency is withholding November’s economic indicator information because state general excise tax revenues numbers, which include individual income tax, are 5.5 percent lower than anticipated and that the data must be reviewed.
November’s economic indicators should become available on Monday, Jan. 3.
