LISTEN TO THE RAIN
A SPECIAL REPORT
Tourism will take a dive after 43-day deluge
Hawaii's visitor industry has survived the rain, but adverse publicity concerning the 43-day deluge appears likely to put a damper on this year's tourism results.
It's been a season of bad news for the industry. First, heavy rains began in mid-February, then the Ka Loko Reservoir burst on Kauai killing seven people on March 14, followed by a sewage spill and the potentially related death last week of a man who fell into the contaminated Ala Wai Boat Harbor. And there were two shark attacks, one on Maui in late February, the other on Oahu last month.
"Almost everyone understands that you'll have sharks and rain in a tropical place, but the sewage spill and the beach closures are the biggest story because they aren't something that you equate with Hawaii," said Keith Vieira, senior vice president of Hawaii and French Polynesia for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.
Although the visitor industry got off to a strong start in 2006, this winter's rain and other complications will likely cause the year to fall short of 2005's records, said Frank Haas, director of marketing for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. The state welcomed 7.5 million arrivals and took in $11.5 billion in visitor spending last year.
State officials have allocated more than half a million dollars for programs designed to maintain the momentum from 2005. However, a state crisis plan is on hold until sustained sunny skies return to the Aloha State, Haas said.
As the rain continued to fall, the state has grappled with the continued impacts of bad weather and subsequent bad publicity that spread through Hawaii's major tourism feeder markets from Europe and Japan to Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and San Francisco and many points in between.
"Mostly we are concerned about future bookings," Haas said. "Our arrival counts don't seem to be off."
While call-center volume for tourists tripled throughout the islands during the ordeal, most visitors chose to come to Hawaii anyway and few left early, said state Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert.
However, there is huge concern on Kauai, the state's hardest-hit island, about the next 60 to 90 days, she said.
"They haven't lost business, but it hasn't picked up at the rate that it normally does, either," Wienert said.
Once rain-related media attention winds down, the state will kick off a public relations campaign that will target the top 20 U.S. feeder markets to Hawaii. The campaign, expected to cost less than $100,000, will also seek spots on "Good Morning America" and the "Today" show, said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority also has transferred $550,000 in emergency funds from leftover budget items to be used for recovery and to boost wholesale travel and airline business.
While business has not been exactly sunny for many of Hawaii's tourism-dependent businesses, most hoteliers, wholesale operators and airlines continue to report that tourist counts are holding their own with only limited damage.
The Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club on Kauai's Kalapaki Beach was the hardest-hit hotel in Hawaii, with 25 guest rooms still under repair.
Six inches of rain in four hours on March 11 and 12, overwhelmed storm drains and a ravine, said hotel general manager Bill Countryman. Flood water flowed into some guest rooms, a restaurant, and the pool, causing a rough few days where meals were served in a ballroom and guests were moved to other rooms.
Last week, though "it's pretty full and business is good," Countryman said. He added that the rooms, all on the ground floor in one tower, will be refurbished before summer. Work to replace the storm drains is under way.
A few properties, such as Aqua Hotels and Resorts -- which lost roughly a quarter of its expected revenue as a result of the deluge -- and Starwood Hotels and Resorts, have identified impacts from cancellations and postponed trips. Others will soon follow suit.
"We had a fair amount of cancellations in March, and bookings in April and May have been slower. Overall I think we'll see about a 10 percent decline in revenues," Starwood's Vieira said.
Despite inclement weather, Hawaiian Airlines had fuller flights in March compared with the previous year, said spokesman Keoni Wagner.
"We haven't seen any drop in activity or rise in cancellations," said Amy Terada, vice president of marketing for Pleasant Holidays LLC, Hawaii's largest travel wholesaler.
Still, poor weather, unsafe road conditions and waters polluted by sewage have hurt some of Hawaii's activities and attractions even while bringing a boost in revenues to others, Kanoho said. "Helicopter, boating and water activities took a bit of a dip in business, but we've heard that spa services, the theater, Blockbuster and the museum really benefited."
While indoor attractions like the Bishop Museum have reported an increased head count from tourists due to March rains, outdoor attractions did not fare as well.
Visitor counts last month at the Polynesian Cultural Center were down some 16 percent from the same time last year, said Alfred Grace, senior vice president of sales and marketing.
Impacts of shifting business have trickled down to workers, said Andy Lee, spokesman for Unite Here Local 5, the hotel workers union.
"Outdoor workers are making fewer tips because they just don't have the usual volume of people at outdoor places," Lee said.
On the bright side, indoor food-and-beverage servers reported better-than-average tips, he said.
FACTS & FIGURES
0 Number of Kauai residents affected by the flooding who had purchased policies under the National Flood Insurance Program, which covers flooding and landslides. Six percent of those affected on Oahu purchased it.
Source: American Red Cross, Hawaii Chapter.
|
Star-Bulletin reporter Tom Finnegan contributed to this report.