Healthy September hotel performance helped push Hawaii’s hotel industry to the top of the nation for the first nine months of the year.
Most hoteliers nationwide covet Hawaii’s hotel results. However, locally, the year has been somewhat of a disappointment, and September results didn’t change anything.
Hotel occupancy across the state rose just nine-tenths of a percentage point to 78.2%, according to the Hawaii Hotel Performance Report released Monday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which used data from STR. The September data surveyed 162 properties statewide representing 48,212 rooms, or more than 89% of all lodging properties with at least 20 rooms, including full-service, limited-service and condominium hotels.
Average daily rate (ADR) grew more than 3% to just over $247, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased by more than 4% to go above $193. RevPAR is considered by many in the industry as a key measure of success given that it’s the amount each hotelier gains per room regardless of its occupancy status.
Maui and Hawaii island posted September gains in all categories. However, occupancy on Oahu was flat, and Kauai saw declines across all categories.
In September, Hawaii hotel room revenue statewide increased more than 3% to almost $313.1 million. Room demand in September was flat at 1.26 million rooms, while room supply dipped about 1% during the same period.
It was a good sign that in September room supply was finally falling at a faster rate than demand. But that wasn’t the case for the year, which has seen Hawaii hotels achieve scant performance growth. During the first nine months of the year, occupancy fell three-tenths of a percentage point to 81.3% with ADR rising nearly 2% to almost $281 and RevPAR increasing nearly 2% to just over $228. Results across the islands were mixed. Maui realized growth in all categories. Oahu’s occupancy was flat; however, it experienced a slight gain in ADR, and RevPar was just a bit above flat. Hawaii island saw gains in ADR and RevPar; however, its occupancy was just above flat. Kauai experienced strong drops across all major performance categories.
Still, industry experts expect hotel performance will continue rebounding. And nationwide, Hawaii’s performance is doing great.
During the first nine months of the year, Hawaii hotels earned the nation’s highest ADR and RevPAR, outpacing other highly competitive markets, including San Francisco/San Mateo and New York. At the same time, Hawaii achieved the nation’s third-highest occupancy just after New York and San Francisco/ San Mateo. These three destinations often jockey for the nation’s top industry spots.
OCCUPANCY
2019 2018
State 78.2% 77.3%
Oahu 84.1% 84.1%
Maui 72.7% 71.0%
Hawaii island 67.5% 60.7%
Kauai 68.6% 73.2%
AVERAGE DAILY ROOM RATE
2019 2018
State $247 $240
Oahu $227 $221
Maui $319 $304
Hawaii island $222 $204
Kauai $241 $251
REVENUE PER AVAILABLE ROOM
2019 2018
State $193 $185
Oahu $191 $186
Maui $232 $216
Hawaii island $150 $124
Kauai $165 $183
