Hotel occupancy in March held steady
Maui led the state in the last month before the airline shutdowns
Hotel occupancies held steady in March, with a slight drop of 0.8 percentage points compared to the same month last year, the last month before the Aloha and ATA airline shutdowns.
Hotel occupancy
Occupancy rates at Hawaii hotels in March and the same month last year:
|
2008 |
2007
|
Statewide |
77.4% |
78.2%
|
By Island
|
Oahu |
77.3% |
78.2%
|
Kauai |
77.1% |
73.0%
|
Maui |
80.7% |
79.5%
|
Big Island |
72.3% |
78.5% |
Source: Hospitality Advisors LLC
|
While this corresponded with the 1.0 percent decrease in visitor arrivals reported by the state department of business, economic development and tourism, the statewide average daily room rate was still strong, according to
Hospitality Advisors LLC.
In a report being released today, Hospitality Advisors reports the statewide average daily room rate rose by 7.8 percent in March, resulting in a 6.7 percent increase in revenue per available room -- or RevPAR -- to $168.41. Occupancy was 77.4 percent during the month, versus 78.2 percent the year before.
Maui led the market in average daily rate growth, with $306.79 in March, an increase of 11.6 percent. Wailea outperformed all markets by achieving an average daily rate of $511.66, which was 18.8 percent higher than in March 2007.
Maui and Kauai hotels reported occupancy gains of 4.1 percentage points to 77.1 percent, and 1.2 percentage points to 80.7 percent, respectively.
But Big Island hotels experienced the largest drop in occupancy in March, with a loss of 6.2 percentage points to 72.3 percent.
Oahu hotels, meanwhile, dipped by 0.9 percentage points to 77.3 percent occupancy.
Luxury hotels continued to lead in RevPAR gains, with an 8.2 percent increase to $239.16 in March. An 8.2 percent increase in average daily rate was tempered by a 0.7 percentage point dip in occupancy -- with most occupancy losses from the Big Island.
Budget hotels lagged the rest of the price categories with only a 2.5 percent increase in RevPAR, a 2.6 percentage point decrease in occupancy and modest 5.8 percent increase in average daily room rate.
For the first quarter of this year, room revenues reached a record $859.5 million, 7.5 percent above the year-earlier quarter. Statewide occupancy for the quarter was 78.5 percent, up from 77.4 percent the year before.