Hotel revenue sets July record

HONOLULU — Hawaii hotels have set a new room revenue record of $310 million, according to data released Tuesday by a tourism industry consultant company.

July’s hotel room revenue increased 18.2 percent over July 2011 to an all-time high, said Hospitality Advisors LLC.

Statewide hotel occupancy reached 81.9 percent, a 5.8 percentage point increase compared to July 2011. The tourism industry consultant company attributed the gains to an increase in arrivals from the U.S. West, Japan and other international visitors, primarily from China and Korea.

“These Asian markets overwhelmingly select traditional hotels over other accommodation choices, including timeshares and individual condo rentals, when compared to the U.S. market,” the report said.

For July, the average daily room rate reached $214.40. Another indicator of hotel performance — room revenue per available room — reached $179.59. Both were all-time highs for the month of July.

Oahu hotel occupancy was nearly 92 percent, boosted mostly by Asian guests and military from the Rim of the Pacific naval exercises. Occupancy on the island of Maui increased 2.3 percentage points to 74.4 percent over July 2011. The Maui honeymoon market saw 24.4 percent jump in visitors. The island’s luxury market class had the highest average daily room rate in the state at $522.22.

Kauai hotels saw a 5.5 percent improvement to 75.2 percent. Occupancy on the Big Island reached 64.1 percent, a 2.3 percentage point increase.

“A lot of events came together during the month of July that made it an outstanding month,” said Joseph Toy, president and CEO of Hospitality Advisors. “The surge in arrivals from Japan and other Asian countries, as well as the return of the more affluent West Coast market has helped Oahu in particular. I don’t think there’s an unhappy person in Waikiki at the moment. Still, not everyone is benefiting from this recovery as the Big Island remains 28 percentage points behind Waikiki.”