HAWAII With Japan still reeling from March’s devastating tsunami and earthquake, Japanese travel to Hawaii fell 23.5% in April.
Despite that drop-off from one of the state’s biggest source markets, occupancy across Hawaii actually rose 3.2 percentage points during the month, to 68.5%, according to a report by consultancy Hospitality Advisors LLC.
Much of the lost business in April was made up for by increased travel from Canada and the mainland United States. A 10% increase from the western United States and a 33.7% percent boost from Canada was driven in part by this year’s late Easter holiday. Statewide ADR rose 8.5% year over year to US$191.26, while RevPAR jumped 13.8% to US$131.01.
“The U.S. mainland and Canadian markets continue to show pent-up demand that has been fueling Hawaii’s double-digit recovery rate in room revenue through the first four months this year,” says Hospitality Advisors President Joseph Toy.
The highest occupancy was seen on Oahu, which increased 4.4 points year over year to 74%. Maui, Kauai and the island of Hawaii all saw occupancy increase or remain flat. However, ADR on the island of Hawaii fell 13.9% to US$172.16; the other three islands posted ADR gains of at least 9%.