Archive for the ‘Comments by Waikoloa Vacation Rentals’ Category

Over the past year, there has been an overall increase in the number of visitors and length of stay to the State of Hawaii through November of 2011.  Major markets such as Canada, Oceania, and various Asian countries have increased their travel to the state, increasing the overall average.   Much of the increase is due to added flight operations from countries such as China, Korea, Japan, Canada and Oceania direct to Honolulu.  The Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Airlift Development Program, a cooperative airline program geared to bring more guests to Hawaii, has done a great job sustaining routes and encouraging new ones.

One of largest contributing markets is Canada, showing nearly double digit increases month over month from 2010.  Much of this can be attributed to a stable Canadian economy, increased awareness and overall stronger marketing.   On average, Canadian arrivals have increased over 20% since last year while some US markets have remained flat.

Compared to 2010, 2011 tourism has increased almost 7% as a whole and the length of stay has increased nearly 1%.  The numbers may be a bit higher when the actual vs. projected arrivals for December 2011 are reported and available through the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

It has been a rough few years for the Hawaiian Islands due to both the nationwide economic issue and an airline availability problem as well. In 2008, there was a huge decrease in travelers to Hawaii, 10.5% to be exact, which accounted for almost one million less visitors entering the state. With the demise of Aloha Airlines, a dramatic increase in fuel cost, and fewer passengers, many airlines decreased or simply eliminated their Hawaiian Islands’ routes.

Since 2010, the airline industry has increased flight operations to Hawaii, adding additional flights from the continental United States along with some recent international routes, all of which help Hawaii’s local economy.

Companies such as Alaska Airlines added daily service between Portland and Honolulu, and seasonal operations between Portland and Kona during the latter portion of 2010. This year, Alaska Airlines also added a direct flight from San Diego to Honolulu. According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, this once daily flight brings our local economy over $58 million in visitor expenditures for the year.
Delta also added daily flights from San Diego to Honolulu in June of 2010. Delta Airlines offers about one hundred weekly flights between Hawaii and nine worldwide destinations. They also offer an average of five daily round-trip departures from Los Angeles International Airport to four of the Hawaiian Islands including Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii.

China Eastern Airlines just added a regularly scheduled flight from China to Honolulu at the beginning of August 2011. This fall, a proposed addition by Asiana Airlines, from Incheon, South Korea (a recent leading market), to Honolulu, is also planned.

In November 2010, Hawaiian Airlines began direct flight service between the islands and Tokyo-Haneda, Japan. In 2011, they created new routes between Hawaii and South Korea. Most recently in July of this year, the airline operator began flight service between the islands and Osaka, Japan as well.

As Waikoloa Vacation rentals expressed in a recent article, tourism is on the rise for the state of Hawaii and certainly the vacation rental industry. With additional flights, more interested travelers, and overall availability, the future does look promising for the state and the industry.

There are many places to travel and sometimes, perhaps staying closer to home is the best plan of action. Everyone in Hawaii realizes how far away they are from the rest of the United States or other international destinations. It is actually something the state and the people take great pride in. It is the furthest landmass from any other land mass on earth. That can mean two things. The first, it can be inconvenient to visit. The second, there is something worth seeing.

Simply put, Hawaii is special. The Culture for one; is like nothing else that can be experienced anywhere else. It’s so strong and so alive. When in Hawaii or on an island, there is no doubt this is someplace very different and extremely special.
Why would someone travel here? Is it the Weather or the Ocean? Could it be the Aloha? This Aloha can only be described as one big hug that lasts the duration of a vacation.
Creating Special Moments with family and friends is something that can happen on a daily basis, producing memories for a lifetime.

Helicopter tours overlooking waterfalls, sunset boat rides, swimming with the dolphins and hiking into the creator are not only possible, but recommended to enhance the overall experience.

Even if there is time for one or two excursions during the course of a vacation; the memory will last for many years to come.
The Aina, or land and it’s offerings of amazing food and foliage. From night blooming jasmine to coconut trees; visitors are surrounded by beautiful breathtaking views and smells that will not soon be forgotten.

It is recommended to try the islands hand crafted lili’koi butter or some of the local favorites found no where else such as Pork Lau Lau served with Poi to enhance the flavor.
Come experience the richness the islands with loved ones and family. Please visit and see
what everyone on the island lives on a daily basis.

Vocabulary will change with phrases such as Hawaii no ka oi (Hawaii is the best), Mahalo Nui Loa (Thank you very much) or Mahalo nui loa na ho’olaule’a me la kaua (Thank you for celebrating with us).

Each one of them has two main characteristics’ happiness and positivity. All of which can be heard right here on Hawaii.

Due to extensive damage from the Japanese tsunami, Kona Village decided to close for an extended period of time.  This has left many of their customers looking for a place to stay elsewhere on the Big Island of Hawaii.

“We are very sad to close Kona Village Resort for an extended period of time, but the damage to the property from this natural disaster is severe enough to render it inoperable,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, CEO of Hualalai Resort/Kona Village Resort. “We are fortunate that our guests and employees were evacuated safely. Our hearts are heavy with this decision’s impact on employees and loyal guests who have visited us over the years. Our thoughts also are with the people of Japan during this difficult time.”

Kona Village has offered full refunds to all of their guests that were planning to stay in 2011.  Due to the unique nature of Kona Village, many of their guests are repeat visitors every year.  For the first time many of the guests have had to find a new place to stay.  Many of them are looking to Kolea at Waikoloa Beach Resort and Mauna Lani Terrace, which are both beachfront vacation rental communities.  Rob Dalton of Waikoloa Vacation Rentals stated, “Within the last week we received five reservations from guests that were scheduled to stay at Kona Village.  All of them were bummed to not get to stay at Kona Village, but excited to try something new.”

It appears that a fair amount of guests that typically stay at Kona Village prefer vacation rentals to hotels.  Given that most guests of Kona Village come to the Big Island annually, not only will the closure have a positive impact on vacation rentals short term, but also long term as the guests look to return to Hawaii for their annual vacation.

We wish for a speedy recovery for Kona Village and will keep you informed as the repairs begin.

The Kolea Beach Club offers Kolea guests and owners a private club on a beachfront setting at Kolea at Waikoloa.  Check out our new video of the Kolea Beach Club.

The Big Island of Hawaii is a great spot to spend New Years.  It is one of the few spots in the US where you can stand outside comfortable and enjoy the firework display.  In recent years every resort had a display of fireworks that were magnificent.  This year Mauna Lani Resort is offering the entertainment.  The Fairmont Orchid is offering a “Beach Bash” that will go until midnight when the fireworks go off in the resort.  If you do not want the hotel experience, Tommy Bahamas at the Shops at Mauna Lani offers entertainment as well as nice dining and bar area.  The lanai at Tommy Bahamas is a great spot to watch the firework display.

As 2010 comes to an end we just wanted to extend a special thanks to all of our guests and owners in helping us have a successful 2010.  We look forward to seeing many of you in 2011.

August was one of the busiest non-winter months Waikoloa Vacation Rentals has experienced since being in the vacation rental business. Talking with other professionals involved in lodging on the island, they also enjoyed more success than preceding months.  Many speculated that we may be in “recovery” mode.  With the recent release of vacation rental statistics it proved the exact opposite on a national level.

During August 2010, arrivals and revenues for the vacation rental industry fell 15% from August 2009.  August caused the vacation rental industry to fall 3% behind 2009 in terms of arrivals.  With over half of the year gone and the bulk of the traveling months passed, it is tough to tell if the vacation rental industry will have a better year in 2010 than 2009.

On a positive note, Hawaii fared the best out of all the states. The rental rates, arrivals, and length of stay were all up, generating a 19% increase in revenue.  Considering that the states that fared the worst were the ones affected by the oil spill, many speculate that Hawaii did so well due to it being a viable alternative for those states.  Looking at flight rates, which are also a large factor in contributing to Hawaii tourism, they were very similar to 2009 so that is not the cause of the increase in tourism.

Although we are extremely happy that August was a great month in Hawaii for the vacation rental industry, looking at the national figures it still appears that the vacation rental industry is far from recovery.

The vacation rental statistics have been released for the first half of 2010.  While many people felt that tourism was doing better throughout the US in 2010 versus 2009, the statistics show the two years to be just about even.  Hawaii was one of the few states that shows a large increase in occupancy in 2010 versus 2009.  Hawaii enjoyed an increase of 24% in the number of nights reserved in the first half of 2010 versus 2009.  There are a couple speculated reasons for this.

The first speculation is that many annual Florida vacationers chose to go to Hawaii due to the recent oil spill.  Florida had a decrease in 3% in the number of nights reserved.  A neighboring state, Alabama had a 15% decrease, which was one one of the largest.

The second speculation is that there were several large scale conferences held throughout the islands in the first quarter, which brought in a large number of people.  Due to the economy in 2009, there were several large companies that canceled conferences in Hawaii that typically have conferences every year.  A lot of hotels offered unprecedented deals on wedding packages bringing in groups to the resort areas.

The first quarter of 2010 started off strong and has steadily decreased throughout the US.  This decrease will more than likely carry into the second half of 2010.  From what is currently reserved Hawaii looks as though it will have a strong half of 2010 as opposed to 2009.

United Airlines has agreed to buy Continental airlines in a $3 billion stock deal.  The deal will make them the worlds largest carrier.  Although many people involved in wall street with the airline industry believe this is a good step forward, it is speculated that it will negatively effect travel to the Hawaiian Islands.

More than likely the merger will decrease the total number of flights (seats) available to Hawaii.  With the current state of the economy and tourism down from what it was in 2008, it will not hurt the Hawaii tourism industry roughly 90% of the year.  There were several weeks late December 2009 and early 2010 where travelers could not get to the islands due to no flight availability.  It is speculated that these times of year will be worse and there will be a few more weeks where flights will be sold out to Hawaii.

The decrease in competition within flights coming to Hawaii will also cause a rise in cost.  This is speculated to be the largest issue for Hawaii with the merger.  Travelers could find this as being an issue as early as June 2010.  It will more than likely allow Hawaiian Air to increase their rates, which were already increased in 2009 due to Aloha Airlines closing business.

The effects of the deal are just speculation by experts in the airline industry.  Hopefully the deal will not continue to hurt tourism to the Hawaiian Islands.

The vacation rental industry is a large part of the Hawaii economy.  Not only does it play a large role in tourism, but it also is a large contibutor to state taxes due to the transient accommodations tax.  Just recently with the struggles of the economy the state and counties have had a hard time enforcing policies that have been set to regulate the industry.

The first issue is non conforming use of homes.  This is when the homeowners attempt to rent their properties out as vacation rentals when the land use ordinance does not allow for that property to be a vacation rental.  In these instances the fines can range from $50-$1000/day.  Many homeowners can reach $100,000 in fines quickly.  Typically if the county brings the issue to the homeowners attention and it is dealt with in a timely manner the fine will be drastically reduced up to 75%.  If it is not dealt with in a timely manner then the county can enforce the maximum penalty since this non conforming use falls in the category of the homeowner doing it solely for financial gain.

The second issue is homeowners attempting to rent their properties out on their own and not being fully aware of the taxes for vacation rentals.  For vacation rentals not only do you have the general excise tax, but you also have the transient accommodations tax of over 8%.  This tax was raised by 1% in 2009 and will be raised another percent in 2010.  There are a substantial amount of owners that do not pay this tax.  Another fair amount of owners were unaware of the tax increases and did not charge the guests accordingly and did not pay the state the correct amount.  Failing to pay the correct taxes for a vacation rental is fraud and homeowners can potentially be imprisioned.

Where the battle of legislation comes into play is that the counties would like to see the tax records from the state to see who is paying transient accommodations taxes.  The counties are confident that most people do pay at least a portion of the transient accommodations taxes to avoid legal issues.  If the counties could gain access to this information then they could compare the data to the land use ordinances to see who is renting their home out as a vacation rental in an area where this is not allowed.  The state of Hawaii tax department can not share the information with the counties due to legislation.   The two have battled for over a year now and no agreement has been met.

As the economy continues to struggle the state of Hawaii is bound to see this as a greater issue in the future.  Many second homeowners are doing what they feel they need to do to keep possession of their home and not lose it to foreclosure.  Hopefully in the near future the counties and state can reach an agreement to help policies be enforced.