April occupancy hits 5-year low

The shutdown of Aloha and ATA brings fewer hotel visitors

Statewide hotel occupancy fell by 1.4 percentage points in April compared to last year, reflecting a 7.6 percent decrease in air arrivals after the shutdown of Aloha and ATA airlines.

HOTEL OCCUPANCY Occupancy rates at Hawaii hotels in April and the same month last year: 2008 2007 Statewide 69.5% 70.9% BY ISLAND Oahu 71.9% 72.4% Kauai 69.9% 71.6% Maui 70.7% 71.7% Big Island 59.4% 64.3% Source: Hospitality Advisors LLC

The 69.5 percent occupancy rate is the lowest for the month since 2003, according to a Hospitality Advisors LLC report being released today.

The average daily rate also declined during April, dropping 1.2 percent to $197.07, resulting in a 3.2 percent drop in revenue per available room to $137.03.

Budget hotel occupancy rose 10.1 percentage points to 74.6 percent in the month, due to an influx of Canadian visitors as well as the accommodation of visitors stranded by the airline shutdowns during the first half of the month.

Occupancy at Oahu hotels declined by 0.5 percentage points to 71.9 percent, but the average daily rate rose 2.3 percent to $165.42, a high for April. That resulted in a 1.6 percent increase in revenue per available room for Oahu hotels to $118.94.

Neighbor island occupancy rates also suffered from the shutdown of Aloha on March 31 and ATA on April 2. Maui hotel occupancy fell 1 percentage point to 70.7 percent. Maui's average daily rate and revenue per available room fell 3.4 percent to $257.35 and 4.8 percent to $181.95, respectively. Wailea hotels reported small increases in all categories, but all other Maui regions lagged.

Kauai and the Big Island both saw decreases across the board.