Maui Leads State in Timeshare Occupancy

Maui County timeshare properties had the highest occupancy rate compared to Hawaiʻiʻs four other island counties, according to the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authorityʻs new report. Their report shows how many timeshares throughout the state were occupied during the second quarter of 2018, which runs from April to June.

According to the report, Maui timeshare properties had an occupancy rate of 94 percent during these months, a 2 percent rise compared to the same period a year ago. Oʻahu timeshare properties came in second, with a 92.6 percent occupancy rate, followed by Kauaʻi timeshare properties at 91.5 percent, then Hawaiʻi island properties at 84 percent.

The average timeshare property occupancy rate for the four counties was 91.5 percent, a 1.6 percent increase from the same period last year, according to HTA.

According to HTA, over 200,000 visitors stayed at a timeshare resort for all or part of their visit during this period, a similar amount to last year. More than three quarters of those visitors only stayed at a timeshare throughout their visit.

Timeshare visitors stayed in the islands for an average of nearly 10 days, which was around a day longer than the average length of stay for all visitors. According to HTA, almost 9 percent of Hawaiʻiʻs total visitors during this period stayed at a timeshare.

“During a quarter that had worldwide media coverage of flooding on Kauaʻi in April and lava covering homes and property on the island of Hawaiʻi in May and June, timeshare owners were undeterred by these images and continued to come to Hawaiʻi and stay in their timeshare properties,” HTA tourism research director Jennifer Chun said.

HTA also mentioned that Oʻahu hotels had the highest occupancy during the same period with an average of 84.5 percent. Kauaʻi hotels had an occupancy of 77.5 percent, with Maui County hotels at 77.4 percent, and Hawaiʻi island hotels at 71.8 percent.

“The increase in total timeshare occupancy was achieved even though inventory grew with hundreds of new units added to Hawaiʻi’s mix in the second quarter of last year,” Chun said. “Timeshare’s growth in units and occupancy rates did not seem to adversely affect demand for hotel stays. It’s noteworthy timeshare and hotel occupancy both grew at similar rates during the second quarter at a statewide level.”

HTA said timeshare owners staying in their units made up over half of the occupied nights for timeshare properties. Exchangers, timeshare owners staying in a unit they do not own, made up about a fifth of the occupied room nights. Renters, including visitors, exchangers, and owners, who temporarily rented a timeshare for more nights than their planned stay represented a sixth of the occupied nights. Marketing use represented 8.5 percent of the occupied nights.

Kloninger & Sims Consulting LLC prepared HTA’s Hawaiʻi Timeshare Quarterly Report. The timeshare survey findings were based on data provided by 52 individual timeshare properties, which represent 81.3 percent of Hawaiʻi’s 11,233 timeshare units.

The report is available online.