PO’IPU — Paced by an overall South Shore occupancy rate of 80.1 percent, and a rate of 88.8 percent among South Shore hotels, Kaua’i led the state in occupancy rates for May, at 79.4 percent. And some of the island’s
PO’IPU — Paced by an overall South Shore occupancy rate of 80.1 percent, and a
rate of 88.8 percent among South Shore hotels, Kaua’i led the state in
occupancy rates for May, at 79.4 percent.
And some of the island’s hotels
are already sold out for the entire summer, reports Henry Perez, general
manager of Lawa’i Beach Resort and president of the Hawai’i Hotel Association
Kaua’i chapter.
His property and Embassy Vacation Resort Po’ipu Point are
sold out until September (Embassy even shut down its reservations system for
the Po’ipu property until then), and the Hyatt Regency Kaua’i Resort & Spa
and Sheraton Kaua’i here are both reporting projected occupancies for the
summer in the “high, high 90s,” Perez said.
The entire South Shore will
average around 98 percent or 99 percent occupied for the entire summer, a trend
not unique to Po’ipu, he predicted confidently.
Eastside and North Shore
properties are also bracing for full houses for much of the summer. In fact,
Perez is halfway through the year projecting the best year for visitor arrivals
in Kaua’i’s history, based mostly on the summer projections.
“It’s just
going to be a terrific year.”
The fact that Kaua’i led the state in May
occupancy rates was no surprise to Perez, who said the arrivals last month, and
this summer, are primarily from the Mainland West Coast. The thriving Mainland
economy is the main reason Kaua’i will be a very busy place this summer, he
added.
Doug Chang, hotel manager at the Kaua’i Marriott Resort & Beach
Club, said his property is above budget and above projections for the entire
summer as well, with several sold-out periods between now and the end of
August.
September will be strong, too, Chang said. A Lions Club convention
in town this weekend pushed occupancies skyward across the island.
Despite
Kaua’i’s May occupancy figure of 79.4 percent, up from 71.3 percent for May of
last year, the island didn’t lead the state in occupancy rate growth. That
distinction went to the Big Island, with an occupancy figure of 69.6 percent,
up some 16 percent from the 60 percent figure recorded in May of last
year.
Maui was second in occupancy behind Kaua’i, coming in at 78 percent,
up 11.2 percent from the 70.2 percent figure from May of last year. Kaua’i’s
occupancy rate last month was up 11.4 percent compared to May, 1999’s
figure.
Statewide, May’s occupancy rate of 74.4 percent was the highest
figure for that month in 10 years, and up 11.4 percent from last May’s 66.8
percent figure.
Last month, the South Shore overall occupancy rate was 80.1
percent, up from 75 percent in May of last year. Eastside properties were just
behind, at 78.9 percent up some 21.3 percent from the May, 1999 figure of 65.1
percent.
North Shore properties were at 78.3 percent, up from 74.8 percent
in May of last year.
For hotels alone, South Shore properties were at 88.8
percent, up from 82.1 percent in May of last year. Eastside hotels were at 81.3
percent, way up from 65.8 percent in May of last year. Overall, Kaua’i’s hotels
were 85.7 percent full last month, up from 75 percent in May, 1999.
Resort
condominium occupancies for the island were 65.3 percent last month, up from
63.3 percent in May of 1999, with Eastside properties leading the way with a
May occupancy rate of 70.5 percent, up from 62.5 percent in May last
year.
North Shore condominiums were next, at 66.7 percent, down from 69.5
percent in May of 1999, while South Shore resort condominiums were at 62.1
percent, up from 61 percent in May, 1999.
The resort condominium occupancy
figures do not include timeshare units.
For the first five months of this
year, Kaua’i’s overall occupancy rate was 74.8 percent, up from 71.9 percent in
the same period last year.
The South Shore again led the way, at 78.3
percent occupancy, up from 76.5 percent for the same period in 1999. Eastside
properties followed, at 72.6 percent for the first five months of this year, up
from 67.2 percent for the same period last year.
North Shore properties
lagged, at 69.3 percent for the first five months of 2000, up from 68.5 percent
for the same period last year. Statewide occupancy was 77.9 percent for the
first five months of this year, up from 73.3 percent for the same period last
year.
For the first five months of this year, Kaua’i’s hotel-only occupancy
rate was 79.4 percent, up from 73.6 percent for the same period last year. That
was second-best in the state, behind only Maui.
The South Shore shone
again, at 84.5 percent for the first five months of this year, up from 79.6
percent for the same period in 1999.
Eastside hotels also showed increases,
to 74.1 percent for the first five months of this year, up from 65.5 percent
for the first five months of 1999.
Statewide hotel-only occupancies were 78
percent for the first five months of this year, up from 72.8 percent for the
same period last year.
Kaua’i’s occupancy rate for resort condominiums was
64.7 percent for the first five months of this year, down from 68.1 percent for
the same period last year.
Eastside resort condominiums led the way, at
67.3 percent for the first five months of this year, down from 72.7 percent
during the same period last year. South Shore resort condominiums were next, at
65.2 percent, down from 70.2 percent for 1999’s first five months.
North
Shore resort condominium occupancies were 60.6 percent the first five months
this year, up from 58.2 percent for the same period in 1999.
“Statewide
occupancy and ADR (average daily room rate) continue its string of increases
for the fourth straight month and highest May occupancy in 10 years,” said
Ernie Watari, chairman and chief executive officer of PKF-Hawai’i, the Honolulu
accounting and management firm which released the occupancy figures.
“An
11.38 percent increase in statewide occupancy and 7.12 percent increase in
statewide ADR provided a remarkable 19.32 percent increase in RevPar (room
revenue per available room),” Watari explained.
“In addition to the strong
presence of U.S. Mainland visitors, the Japanese holiday season of Golden Week
also contributed to the impressive increases for the hotel industry,” he
continued.
“Despite threats of an economic slowdown in the U.S., it appears
that consumers are apparently still ‘bullish’ in spending habits, which has
been and hopefully will continue to be a benefit to the Hawai’i
economy.”
PKF-Hawai’i has been monitoring the state’s hotel industry since
1972, in conjunction with the Hawai’i Hotel Association. Statistics are from
151 properties statewide with a total of 40,543 rooms, or 57 percent of the
available rooms in the state.
