Occupancy falls
for 12th month

67.4% of isle hotel rooms
were filled in January

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By Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.com

Hawaii hotel occupancy in January fell 14.6 percent from a year earlier, marking the 12th consecutive month of decreases, according to a report issued yesterday by hospitality consulting firm PKF-Hawaii.

Last month, 67.4 percent of island hotel rooms were filled, compared with 78.4 percent in January 2001.

All islands saw occupancy decreases, with Oahu leading the pack with a drop of 17.2 percent. Maui followed with a 13.5 percent decrease; Molokai saw a 10.1 percent decrease; and Kauai a 9.3 percent decrease. Occupancy on the Big Island fell 6.27 percent from January 2001 figures.

Statewide, average daily room rates held up somewhat better, decreasing by 5.5 percent to $150.03 a night compared with a January 2001 rate of $158.74.

Resort condominiums fared marginally worse than hotels, with occupancy falling 14.8 percent to 64.5 percent.

PKF-Hawaii's chairman and chief executive officer, Ernie Watari, noted that while occupancy was still significantly lower than last year, substantial gains have been made since Sept. 11.

"The month of September 2001 resulted in a decrease in occupancy of 25.1 percent, whereas the month of January 2002 narrowed the gap," he said.

David Preece, Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau vice president for North America, noted that the relatively small drop of 5.5 percent in average daily room rates means hotels are not discounting heavily since Sept. 11.

"Many hotels learned as a reaction to 1991's Gulf War that when they make sudden drops in room rates, it's very difficult to raise them back to normal levels as the market starts to pick up," he said.

That lesson is particularly true when dealing with travel agents and wholesalers who have already established rates with the hotels and still provide the bulk of visitors to Hawaii, he said.

"Maintaining pricing integrity through that channel of distribution is of strategic importance," Preece said.

PKF's monthly report is based on a survey of 74 hotels and 57 resort condominiums.