Hotel occupancy
keeps sliding

Only 70.1% of the rooms were
filled in September as the rate fell
for the 17th consecutive month

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii's hotels had their worst September since 1993 and last month was the 17th in a row in which occupancy was down from a year earlier, according to a report released today.

Statewide occupancy of hotels and resort condominiums averaged 70.1 percent last month, down from 73.9 percent in September 1997, according to the monthly survey by the accounting and consulting firm PKF-Hawaii Inc. Oahu, the favorite of Japanese travelers, was particularly hard it by a slowdown in travel from that country, showing its worst occupancy in 15 years, said Ernie Watari, chairman and chief executive of the firm.

"The deepening Asian economic crisis is playing havoc on our fragile tourism industry and economy," Watari said. "With no end in sight for this Asian crisis to recover, government leaders and the visitor industry need to work collectively to immediately implement an aggressive, action-oriented crisis recovery plan."

Watari said resort condominiums improved their occupancy while still trailing hotels. The condominiums averaged 64.8 percent full last month, up from 61.9 percent in the previous September. Hotels averaged 71.2 percent full last month, down from 76.3 percent in the year-earlier month.

Oahu hotels pulled their room rates down to try to attract business, averaging $117.20 a day compared with $120.48 in September 1997, but Oahu occupancy slipped more than seven percentage points anyway, to average 73.2 percent compared with 80.9 percent in the previous September. Occupancy was up on the Big Island, Maui and Molokai but down on the other islands.

The statewide average room rate was flat at $131.79, compared with $131.59 in September 1997. Maui pushed its average room rate up to $150.98 a day, from $144.73 in the year-earlier month. The other islands all had flat or lower rates.

The Big Island properties averaged $141 per room per night, down from $143.94. Kauai was almost unchanged at $148.54, compared with $148.93 a year earlier, and Molokai's average room rate was $67.91, lower than the $69.64 average reported for September 1997. The highest average room rates were in the luxury properties along the Kohala Coast of the Big Island, which averaged $186.12 per room per day, up from $180.83 in the year-earlier month. Kohala Coast occupancy fell, however, to an average of 62 percent from 65.1 percent in September 1997.