Hawaii hotel occupancy,
room rates up in April

It's the second straight month
in which the industry performed better
this year than last

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii hotel occupancy and room rates for April were up compared to a year earlier, according to the latest report by the accounting and consulting firm PKF-Hawaii.

It was the second month in a row in which hotels were doing better this year than at the same time last year.

Statewide, hotels had an average April occupancy level of 73.3 percent, up from 71.7 percent in April of last year.

The average room rate in the islands was $136.02 a day last month, an increase of 6 percent from $128.29 in the year-earlier month.

The biggest improvement was on the Big Island, where occupancy rose more than 9 percentage points from the previous April to average 68.7 percent, compared to 59.5percent. The Big Island average room rate went up 15.7 percent to average $148.45 last month, compared to $128.30 in the year-earlier period.

The luxury hotels along the Big Island's Kohala Coast did particularly well, according to the PKF-Hawaii figures. There, the average occupancy last month was 73.5 percent, up nearly 12 percentage points from 61.7 percent in April 1996.

The average Kohala Coast room rate, normally among the highest in the state, went up 14.6 percent to $198.10, from $172.89. As a whole, the Big Island had an average room rate of $148.45, up 15.7 percent from $128.30.

Waikiki beachfront full-service hotels had the highest occupancy in the state, 80.8percent, up from 77.9 percent in the previous April, and an average room rate of $153.52, up 5.3 percent from $145.80 a day in April of last year.

Oahu as a whole had an average occupancy of 76.4 percent, up from 73.7 percent, and the average Oahu room rate was $120.75, up 6.3 percent from $113.60.

Maui's average room rate was $160.10, up from $156.93, but Maui's average occupancy slipped to 72.2 percent, from 76 percent.

Kauai occupancy also slipped, to average 67.1 percent last month, compared to 69.9 percent a year earlier, and Kauai's average room rate rose to $149.42, from $139.84.

Molokai, normally the lowest performer in the state, had an occupancy increase, averaging 35 percent compared to 30.5 percent in the previous April, but the average Molokai room rate declined to $72.03, from $73.54 a year earlier.