LIHUE – When Jim and Rondie Spencer began planning a vacation, they looked around at where they wanted to go. On the top of their list was Kauai after reading Travel + Leisure magazine named Kauai the most romantic island
LIHUE – When Jim and Rondie Spencer began planning a vacation, they looked around at where they wanted to go.
On the top of their list was Kauai after reading Travel + Leisure magazine named Kauai the most romantic island in the United States.
“We heard the beaches and sunsets are pretty amazing,” said the resident of Chicago, Ill., shortly after doing some shopping at Longs Drugs on Sunday.
After four days on the island, the Spencers had visited local shops, eaten out at places such as JJ’s Broiler, toured the National Tropical Botanical Garden and snorkeled at Tunnels Beach.
“It’s pretty cool here,” Jim Spencer said.
The Spencers are part of what’s projected to be a big year for tourism on Kauai.
According to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, visitor arrivals in 2013 will see the largest gains on the neighbor islands as Oahu fills up and international arrivals continue to grow.
Hawaii tourism officials say they expect 8.5 million people will visit the islands this year.
In 2013, Kauai will see the biggest year-over-year change in visitor arrivals with an 8.9 percent increase, followed by the Big Island with 8.2 percent, Maui with 7.7 percent and Oahu with 6.3 percent, according to UHERO’s forecast.
Kauai is already up 6.8 percent January through March this year in visitor arrivals.
“Hotel occupancy rates will climb to historic highs over the next few years, putting pressure on room rates and limiting further arrivals gains,” the report said.
Kauai’s popularity is no surprise, said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau.
She said Kauai has the largest number of direct flights in the history of tourism arrivals, which helps in longer stays, Kauai-only stays and increased expenditures.
Additionally, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has made it a priority that the marketing contractors work to support the neighbor islands, especially when O’ahu may be full.
“We have had a few new opportunities come our way this year and end of last year that have increased our international numbers, which adds to our strong U.S. West market,” she said.
Randy Francisco, president and CEO of the Kauai Chamber of Commerce, also expects a busy tourism season, but said not all sectors will directly benefit.
Some reported business was up, while others said it was down.
He believes the biggest reason for the economic boon underway is that Asian economies are growing, and the U.S. West Coast economy is gaining steam, too, sending more flights to Kauai.
Strong visitor arrivals usually translate to higher occupancies, more visitor expenditures and hopefully more people dining out and enjoying all the activities Kauai has to offer.
“We can feel it when there is a dip in tourism, so carrying a consistent visitor count helps the businesses on Kauai,” Kanoho said.
The Visitors Bureau’s overall brand message is “Rejuvenation” with people coming to enjoy Kauai’s natural beauty and diversity of activities.
Kauai has amazing golf courses with breathtaking views, and has recently seen an increase in the romance market for proposals, destinations weddings, honeymooners, vow renewals and anniversaries.
“We are entering our peak period of summer and I expect the arrivals to grow during that time,” Kanoho said. “However, we still need to get through the fall shoulder period, where arrivals can level or dip, so we need to see how it all nets out.”
The optimism continues statewide.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority, the state’s tourism agency, will hold its annual Hawaii Tourism Conference on Aug. 22-23 at the Hawaii Convention Center.
The two-day conference is Hawaii’s premier tourism stakeholder event featuring local, national and international leading experts in their fields sharing insight on tourism issues and trends.
“This is an exciting time for our visitor industry – we just came off of a record-breaking year and the momentum has continued into the first quarter,” said Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the HTA. “We look forward to coming together for this year’s conference and sharing our successes, initiatives and plans, as well as looking at how we can continue to ensure the sustainability of our tourism economy.”
Economists caution that labor market recovery has a way to go. Oahu will have recovered all of the jobs lost during the recession by the end of this year. But it will take Maui until next year to return to pre-recession levels.
Kauai and the Big Island will recover by 2015.
UHERO estimates that this year, income earned by Oahu residents will grow by 2.4 percent, while neighbor islands will see growth of 4 percent to 4.5 percent.
While last year’s construction industry growth was attributed to photovoltaic installations, forecasters say work on new residential and commercial projects will drive increased hiring this year.
“By 2015 the next construction cycle will be in full swing with industry payrolls growing by more than 10 percent per year in each county,” the report said.
But external conditions such as a deteriorating economy in Europe and a new strain of bird flu in China could undermine consumers’ confidence and their willingness to travel, putting Hawaii’s economy at risk, according to the report.
