Maui County Hotels Occupancy Climbs to 79% for June, Near Pre-Pandemic Level

The strong recovery for Maui County hotels continues with occupancy for June 2021 climbing to 79.2%, which is only 1.4 percentage points less than it was in June 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the abrupt closure of most of Hawaiʻi’s tourism industry.

Maui County hotels’ revenue per available room (RevPAR) also rose in June 2021 to $394, which was 24.1% higher than it was for June 2019, according to the recent Hawaiʻi Hotel Performance Report published by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority.

And, Maui County hotel’s average daily rate (ADR) for June 2021 improved to $498, also higher than two years earlier, by 26.3%.

For Maui’s luxury resort region of Wailea, the RevPAR was $595 for June 2021 (+5.9% vs. June 2019), with ADR at $790 (+28.0% vs. June 2019) and occupancy at 75.3% (-15.7 percentage points vs. June 2019).

The Lahaina/Kāʻanapali/Kapalua region had a RevPAR of $357 (+32.3% vs. June 2019), ADR at $437 (+31.6% vs. June 2019) and occupancy at 81.7% (+0.4 percentage points vs. June 2019).

Hawai’i hotels statewide reported higher RevPAR and ADR for June 2021 compared to June 2019, with occupancy for June 2021 slightly below June 2019 levels.

The statewide RevPAR in June 2021 was $247 (+4.8% vs. June 2019), with ADR at $320 (+14.2% vs. June 2019) and occupancy at 77% (-6.9 percentage points).

“It’s a positive sign to see hotel accommodations statewide reporting an upward rise, knowing how many local workers and families are benefiting from the return of the domestic market,” said John De Fries, Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority president and CEO. “During the first six months, although the hotel RevPAR and occupancy were still nowhere near the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, it’s encouraging to see the steady comeback of jobs and opportunities for kamaʻaina that weren’t there a year ago.”

The report’s findings utilized data compiled by STR, Inc., which in June 2021 surveyed 138 properties representing 44,614 rooms, or 82.6% of all lodging properties and 85.2% of operating lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including full service, limited service and condominium hotels. Vacation rental and timeshare properties were not included in this survey.

During June 2021, most passengers arriving from out-of-state and traveling inter-county could bypass the State’s mandatory 10-day self-quarantine with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a Trusted Testing Partner prior to their departure to Hawaii through the Safe Travels program. In addition, individuals who were fully vaccinated in Hawaii could bypass the quarantine order beginning June 15. Inter-county travel restrictions were lifted also on June 15.

Through the first six months of 2021, Hawaiʻi hotel performance statewide continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hawaiʻi hotels earned $141 in RevPAR (-37.3% vs. 2019), with ADR at $293 (+4.8% vs. 2019) and occupancy at 48.1% (-32.3 percentage points vs. 2019).

Total statewide hotel revenues for the first half of 2021 were $1.3 billion (-41% vs. 2019). Room supply was 9.2 million room nights (-5.9% vs. 2019) and room demand was 4.4 million room nights (-43.7% vs. 2019).

In comparison to the top US markets during the first half of 2021, the Hawaiian Islands earned the second highest RevPAR, behind only Miami, FL at $155.

With the U.S. Mainland accessible for road trips and short-haul inter-continental flights, the Hawaiian Islands’ occupancy for the first six months of 2021 was lower than many destinations in STR’s top 25 markets; landing at the 17th spot.  

To view the full report, click here.