Maui County hotels defy usual April doldrums
Higher average daily room rates and revenue reported

Mayo and Suzanne Cummings of Pendergrass, Ga., snap a selfie last week while visiting the windy beach at Kealia. The couple said it was their first trip to Maui, but hopefully not their last. “We love it,” Suzanne said. “We can’t wait to come back.” Maui County hotel occupancies were up 0.4 percent to 79 percent in April, traditionally a slow month for tourism in Hawaii. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
The Maui News
Despite April traditionally being an off-peak month for tourism, Maui County hotels reported regional across-the-board increases in revenue per available room, average daily room rates and occupancies — except for a slight dip in occupancy for West Maui, the Hawai’i Tourism Authority reported.
Hotel occupancy for the Lahaina-Kaanapali-Kapalua region fell 0.5 percent to 77.4 percent in April, the authority said. Otherwise, all regions reported growth, mostly in the mid-single digits.
As a whole, Maui County hotels reported a rise in revenue per available room of 5.9 percent to $292.91, an increase in average room rates of 5.4 percent to $370.68, and a 0.4 percent blip upward to 79 percent in hotel occupancies.
Wailea showed the largest percentage increase in occupancies for Maui County, up 2.3 percent to 89.4 percent, the highest in the state. Wailea also had the highest average daily room rate, up 4.8 percent to $574.64, and its revenue per available room of $513.64 (up 7.5 percent) was more than twice the state’s average room revenue of $216.80.
Statewide, occupancy was up 2.8 percent to 80.5 percent and average daily room rates were up 4.2 percent to $269.45.
Of the four major islands, Oahu had the highest hotel occupancy rate at 82.6 percent, up 2.5 percent, and led by Waikiki with 83.1 percent occupancy, up 2.6 percent. Kauai’s occupancy was at 76.9 percent, up 3.8 percent; and the Big Island’s hotel occupancy was 76.4 percent, up 7.4 percent.
By percentage, Kauai had the largest increase in revenue per available room, up 18.7 percent to $218.24. The Big Island saw hotel room revenue up 12.8 percent to $199.18, and Oahu’s room take rose 6.6 percent to $188.51.
“All classes of properties on the four island counties recorded increases in revenue per available room and average daily rate,” said Jennifer Chun, Hawai’i Tourism Authority director of tourism research. “The industry continues to benefit from the additional air seat capacity serving the state, which helped to bolster what is typically a slower month for visitor travel.” Chun added that it was “satisfying” to see Kauai do well despite flooding in mid-April.