Hawaii hotel rates
are second only
to New York

Isle hotels were the fullest in
the nation in the first quarter

Hawaii's hotels were the fullest -- and the most profitable -- in the nation during the first quarter, with more than 84 percent of the rooms occupied.

Hawaii hotels earned an average of $138 per room a night during the quarter, leading all U.S. cities, according to a report released yesterday by Hospitality Advisors LLC.

Spring-break travelers and conventioneers boosted travel to Hawaii in March. Occupancy and average room rates rose on all islands, but luxury and upscale properties led the pack and helped push overall statewide occupancy to a 5.1 percentage point gain, according to Hospitality Advisors.

The increases were in keeping with the overall performance of the state's visitor industry, which posted a 14.2 percent increase in March arrivals to nearly 664,000, according to state data.

Hawaii's luxury and upscale properties accounted for $530.3 million, or 72.9 percent, of room revenues during March.

Hawaii's average daily room rate of $163.98 for the first quarter was second in the nation only to New York. For March, statewide room rates jumped 8.8 percent, to $168.26 up from $154.64 in March 2003.

March travel helped boost a somewhat sluggish first quarter, said Ken Phillips of California-based Pleasant Holidays, Hawaii's largest wholesaler.

"First quarter was a little sluggish, with about a 3 to 4 percent drop overall in revenue, compared with the same period in 2004," Phillips said. "March, with Easter, saw a full swing back to the plus side, a 4 percent increase."

Pleasant Holidays also noted a trend toward customers favoring higher-quality accommodations, Phillips said.

"This year we've noted a continued improvement in sales involving deluxe and luxury properties in Hawaii," he said.

"This segment now represents 54.3 percent of Pleasant Holidays' business."

Oahu, which benefited from an unusually strong convention, meetings and incentives market, showed an occupancy increase of 7.3 percentage points and its room rates were up by 11.5 percent to $133.25 from $119.53 in March 2003

Strong demand for Oahu pushed room rates in Waikiki to $132.26 a night last month, a 12.2 percent gain from a year earlier. The highest average room rate in the state was on Maui, where rooms went for $226.93, up 10.2 percent from March 2004.

The March figures were based on a survey of 148 properties with a total of 49,055 rooms, 77.8 percent of the rooms in Hawaii.