In April, we saw occupancy and rates drop in the islands. Not by a lot, but any decrease is welcome news, given how expensive hotels have gotten since 2020. And the Hawaii hotel occupancy May 2023 report continues to reflect a downward trend.
As previously covered, Hawaii tourism officials are concerned that visitor arrivals will decline this summer – a first since tourism exploded when the islands reopened to visitors. And, if the trend we saw between April and May continues, then the officials have a right to worry.
Hawaii Hotel Occupancy May 2023
In March, Hawaii’s average daily rate (ADR) was at $387 and declined to $367 in April, and declined again last month to $347. That tracks right alongside occupancy, with Hawaii hotel occupancy in May 2023 dipping to 72.8% from 73.9% in April and 76.5%. This places May’s occupancy rate 0.9% lower than May 2022’s, though ADR remains 1.5% higher than the same time last year. As always, though, we need to dig down to see what’s really going on here.
Maui
In the Hawaii hotel occupancy May 2023 report, Maui saw occupancy dip quite a bit. Occupancy rates in Wailea dropped from 61.7% in April to 59.5% in May, while occupancy fell from 67.2% to 65.4% in Ka’anapali. This caused Maui’s overall ADR to dive from $609 to $539, with ADR in Wailea taking a HUGE hit, dropping from $957 to $788 – that’s a full 5.5% lower than May 2022 but is still an astonishing 55.5% higher than May 2019. The Ka’anapali area saw a smaller drop in ADR, going from $538 to $491, which is 4.8% lower than May 2022 and, shockingly, 10% lower than May 2019.
Kauai
In April, Kauai saw a slight occupancy dip from 75.8% to 75.3%. That trend continues in the Hawaii hotel occupancy May 2023 report, with occupancy further dipping to 74.2%. This also caused a reversal of Kauai’s increasing ADR in April, driving the price down to $397 from $408. As a comparison, ADR is 4.8% lower than 2022 but is still 3% higher than 2019.
Big Island
The Big Island rapid decline continued in the Hawaii hotel occupancy May 2023 report, with its island-wide average occupancy rate falling from 69.6% to 66.9% – nearly 8% in the past two months alone! Of course, the continued decline in occupancy also forced down the Big Island’s ADR, going from $430 to $370. The Big Island’s drops seem to primarily be driven by the Kohala Coast, which saw occupancy fall from 75.1% to 70.2%. ADR in the area fell by almost $100, going from $603 to $505.
Overall, the Big Island’s ADR was 7% lower last month than May 2022 and was 4.8% lower when compared to May 2019. The year-over-year change was much smaller, comparatively, on the Kohala Coast, being just 0.8% lower than in May 2022 and 1.1% lower than in May 2019.
Oahu
Oahu saw the smallest decline in the Hawaii hotel occupancy May 2023 report, with island-wide average occupancy decreasing by a tiny 0.2%, going from 78.5% to 78.3%. This caused ADR to fall again, going from $272 to $264. In Waikiki, specifically, occupancy remained relatively stable, dipping from 78.7% to 78.3% and ADR dropping from $256 to $253.
Interestingly, Oahu is the only island that saw year-over-year increases in ADR, with May 2023’s price being 7.5% higher than May 2022 and 17.9% higher than May 2019. Naturally, Waikiki had similar ADR performance, with May 2023 coming in at 7.9% higher than May 2022 and 14% than May 2019.
Final Thoughts
Summer officially began last week, so it’ll be interesting to see how occupancy rats and ADR perform this month. If occupancy continues to fall, we’ll undoubtedly see downward pressure on pricing, too. One things’s for sure, though, hotel prices are mostly lower than they were in 2019 for the first time since things really began opening up after COVID lockdowns. Well, with the exception of Wailea, Maui.