Hawaii’s statewide hotel occupancy rate rose to 71.2 percent during the first nine months of 2010, a gain of 6 percentage points from the same period last year, according to a report from Honolulu-based Hospitality Advisors.
Oahu, where occupancy levels grew by 6.2 percent to reach 78.3 percent, is the island seeing the greatest demand. Maui gained 5 percentage points to reach 68.9 percent, while Kauai gained 2.1 percent to reach 61 percent.
However, Hospitality Advisors also reported that Hawaii’s ADR (average daily rate) is lagging behind the occupancy gains, with ADR dropping by 3 percent during the first nine of this year as compared to last year. According to Joseph Toy, president of Hospitality Advisors, hotel profitability in Hawaii could take another four or five years to fully recover from the economic downturn.
"While demand is strengthening, the recovery remains uneven, with most of the improvement occurring on Oahu and Maui," Toy said. "A lot of capacity remains in the market that will need to be absorbed before we can start to see real growth in room revenue. Still, the market is headed in the right direction."
