Hotels score well for packing rooms in sun-island locations

Oahu filled more hotel rooms than its competitors in the top island and sun destinations category, and the state came in second behind Singapore in a ranking of hotel performance for comparable international destinations, according to a first-quarter report to be released today by Hospitality Advisors LLC.

Oahu’s 86.2 percent occupancy rate was only slightly better than Phuket, Thailand’s rate of 86.1 percent. Following those two were Maui, the Maldives, Kauai, Hawaii island, Aruba, Costa Rica, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Maui filled 80.2 percent of its hotel rooms to take the third-best spot, while Kauai came in fifth place with a 73.2 percent occupancy and Hawaii Island was in sixth place with 72.6 percent occupancy.

Hawaii’s individual islands continued to perform quite well against their top competitors through the first quarter, said Joseph Toy, president and CEO of Hospitality Advisors LLC, which compiled its survey using international and U.S. hotel data from Smith Travel Research, which included more than 38,000 properties, representing nearly 5 million rooms worldwide.

“In particular, hotel occupancy on Kauai and the Big Island improved significantly against the competitive market during the first quarter, which saw all four Hawaii islands place in the top six destinations for occupancy,” Toy said.

All four of the largest islands also ranked high among island and sun destinations for average daily room rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR). Maui had the highest first-quarter ADR at $296.15, which earned it a fifth-place ranking behind the Maldives, French Polynesia, Aruba and the Bahamas. An ADR of $224.35 earned Kauai seventh place just ahead of Hawaii island, whose $223.91 ADR netted it the eighth-best spot and Oahu, which came in ninth place with $208.77. Of all the competitive island and sun destinations, Oahu’s ADR had the most year-over-year growth after French Polynesia. Demand for Oahu helped push up its first-quarter ADR a significant 18.3 percent over the first quarter of 2012.

Second only to the Maldives in terms of RevPAR, Maui hoteliers earned $237.51 per day. Oahu’s $179.96 RevPAR netted it sixth place, while Kauai’s $164.22 took seventh behind Aruba, French Polynesia and the Bahamas. Hawaii island, which also fell behind Jamaica and Phuket, took 10th place with a RevPAR of $162.56.

In a comparison with similar international destinations, Hospitality Advisors also placed Hawaii second behind Singapore in terms of occupancy, ADR and RevPAR. The hotel industry filled 81.6 percent of its rooms during the first quarter with its ADR climbing 13.1 percent to $233.33 and its RevPAR rising 15 percent to $190.40. Hawaii hotels outperformed Thailand, New Zealand, Caribbean, Australia, South Korea, Mexico and China.

“January to March was exceptional,” said Jerry Gibson, area vice president of Hilton Hawaii. “It was going at the same pace of growth as the last two quarters of 2012, which were doing very well.”

While demand for Hawaii softened some in April and May due to the season and prices, guests like Dana Barnett, a first-time visitor from Illinois, were still enamored.

“There’s no comparison. We visit Florida every year, but our vacation to Oahu is the best we’ve ever had,” said Barnett, who arrived May 30 with six other family members and will stay through Friday.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous here. Prices are definitely higher, but the service is customer-oriented and we’ve been very happy.”

The pace is expected to improve by summer, said Barry Wallace, executive vice president of hospitality services for Outrigger Enterprises Group.

“Summer looks to be coming in quite strong,” Wallace said. “It’s an odd year so we don’t have RIMPAC (the RIM of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest multinational maritime exercise), but we’re picking up above that level anyway, so that’s a good thing.”