Talk Story
With al-Qaida
on the run, stocks
and tourism are
starting to reboundALL of you who had the good sense to buy stock during the week following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks now may smugly enjoy your gains.
John D. Rockefeller once said "I believe the power to make money is a gift from God," but he also said, "The way to make money is to buy when blood is running in the streets."
I confess I didn't have the guts or the gall to buy stock in September. I just couldn't harden myself to go after blue chips when the iron was still red-hot.
The markets have slumped a bit from their Jan. 4 post-attack high, but those with the gumption to put the emotions of the moment aside and follow Mr. Rockefeller's advice are doing very well now, thank you very much.
Somehow, I'm glad I wasn't one of them.
NOW comes news that the travel and tourism market is beginning to rebound. Judging from the number of happy folks from Minnesota and Western Canada turning up lately at our local golf courses, I can attest to that personally.
Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported that bargains on cruises and cheap seats on airplanes are becoming scarce and that the "unbelievably low prices will not continue."
This is bad news for travel bargain hunters, perhaps, but good news for travel destinations like Waikiki, Maui, Lanai, Kauai, the Big Island, et al.
The newspaper described the fate of a traveler from Orlando, Fla., who booked a $300, four-day cruise to the Bahamas in November, but wasn't able to make the trip. When he rebooked the same cruise this month the new fare was $1,300.
Margie Young, a Fort Worth, Texas, travel agent, told the Journal that she'd sold only a handful of trips in December to Hawaii, but had booked six Hawaii cruises in the first two weeks of January.
Given the cuts in numbers of flights to our islands since September, it has become a bit difficult for travel agents to find seats for their Hawaii-bound clients. Daphne Bransen, vice president of Costco Travel in San Francisco, said airline capacity cuts on flights to Hawaii have left bargain fares hard to find.
"When the planes get pretty full, all the cheap seats are gone," she complained.
Hotels in the Caribbean are considering price hikes, too. For example, the Gloustershire in Montego Bay, Jamaica, had cut its room rate from $128 to $80 after Sept. 11, but is now thinking about restoring it.
Hawaii is competing head-to-head with many other travel options. The Journal included a $772, seven-night Hawaii package as one of three bargain package deals still available. The others were a $350-per-night stay at Miami's plush Mandarin Oriental and a $150-and-up stay at a Bahamas golf resort.
"Hotels in Hawaii are still scrambling for visitors," the paper reported. "This month through June 30, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts is offering a flat rate of $249 on ocean-view rooms at its 13 resort and condominium properties in Hawaii. The promotion adds up to savings of $201 a night at the Outrigger Reef on the beach in Waikiki, and $176 at the Outrigger Wailea Resort in Maui."
Hmmm. Suppose I'm an East Coast traveler looking at $80- to $128-per-day in Jamaica, a $325-per-day cruise to the Bahamas or a $249-per-night "deal" in Waikiki. What to do? What to do?
There's pent-up demand for leisure rest and recuperation. As one New York State travel agent put it, "It's been a hard year for people and if they can swing it financially, they're going."
Tourism marketing knees are jerking with this revival in interest. The Mexico Tourism Board commissioned a $35 million campaign called "Mexico, Closer than Ever," for example.
The Mexican board was able to report a significant recovery in hotel occupancy rates. The week after Sept. 11 they were down 22.4 percent from the previous year, but recovered to only 5.9 percent down during the last week of December.
The tourism game is afoot once again. Lucky for Hawaii, we're good at it.
John Flanagan is the Star-Bulletin's contributing editor.
He can be reached at: jflanagan@starbulletin.com.