DBEDT report: Maui County hotels still impacted by last year’s wildfires

The Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism reports Maui County hotels in August were continuing to see after effects of last year’s devastating wildfires.

In August, Maui County’s revenue per available room was $284, or 4.6% less than August 2023 and 7.2% lower than the same month, pre-COVID 2019, the department said in its monthly Hawai‘i Hotel Performance Report. The county’s average daily room rate for the month fell 10.4% compared with 2023, but it was up 31.3% versus 2019.

The county’s hotel occupancy rate in August was 55.1%, up 3.3 percentage points vs. 2023, but down 22.9 percentage points vs. 2019.

The Wailea luxury resort region — a perennial top performer — had a revenue per available room benchmark of $457 in August, 7% higher than August 2023, but 19.7% lower than 2019. Wailea’s average daily room rate was $720 for the month, 3.7% less than last year, but 15% higher than 2019. Wailea’s hotel occupancy was 63.5%, 6.4 percentage points more than 2023, but 27.4 percentage points lower than 2019.

The Lahaina/Kā‘anapali/Kapalua region had a revenue per available room rate of $204 in August, 16.2% less than 2023 and 17.9% less than 2019. The West Maui region’s average daily rate of $404 was 24.2% less than 2023, but 23.9% higher than 2019. West Maui hotel occupancy rates averaged 50.5%, 4.8 percentage points higher than a year earlier, but 25.7 percentage points lower than 2019.

For hotels statewide, average revenue per available room was $266, down 3.6%, with average daily rates at $362 (minus 3%) and occupancy of 73.6% (minus 0.5 percentage points) compared to August 2023. Compared with August 2019, statewide revenue per available room was 9.2% higher, driven by 24.7% higher average daily room rate, which offset lower occupancy (minus 10.5 percentage points).

The report’s findings used data compiled by STR Inc. The company conducts the largest and most comprehensive survey of hotel properties in the Hawaiian Islands. For August 2024, the survey included 171 properties representing 48,285 rooms, or 86.5% of all lodging properties with 20 rooms or more in the Hawaiian Islands, including those offering full service, limited service, and condominium hotels. Vacation rental and timeshare properties were not included in this survey.