The Hawaii tourism industry continues to be on the rise in 2013 with both arrivals and expenditures up!
Where Are the Visitors Coming From?
For the past couple of years the largest growth has been with the Canadian market. That has not been the case for 2013, which has seen the largest growth come from the US West market. The least amount of growth has come from the US East market. The Japan market is the only market that has shown a decrease in visitors for the summer.
How Are the Islands Faring?
While the Big Island of Hawaii has seen some of the best growth in previous years, that is not the case for 2013. Lanai’i has seen the best growth, with Oahu seeing the best growth of the larger markets. The Big Island did see a fair amount of growth in the spring, but has just seen a 2% increase over the summer. The other major markets experienced growths of 6-7% during the summer months. Many people speculate the sudden growth for Oahu is partially in relation to the popular Disney resort, Aulani, becoming more well known.
Where Are They Choosing to Stay?
The vacation rental industry has seen the largest growth for the past four years and that is continuing in 2013. The vacation rental industry has been a bit more sporadic this year with small increases in the winter months and increases of close to 10% in the summer months. With the space and amenities that vacation rentals offer it makes sense to see them do well in the summer months when a lot of families are traveling.
What Does All of This Mean For Vacation Rentals on the Big Island?
While things are moving in the right direction for all areas of the travel industry in Hawaii, they are not increasing as aggressively for the Big Island this year and especially this summer. The positive is that the vacation rental sector has been very strong this summer partially offsetting the minimal increase in visitors and decrease in length of stay.
What Does the Future Look Like?
I suspect that a lot of this is temporary. The vacation rental industry has continued to grow nationally over the last few years and I suspect that to continue. With average spending continuing to increase I would suspect that higher end properties will increase more rapidly than others.
