Dive Brief:
- The Hawaiian island of Maui remains a top hotel market despite the damage brought on by wildfires in 2023, according to analysis by CoStar’s Senior Director of Hospitality Analytics Emmy Hise published via STR Tuesday.
- While Maui’s topline hotel performance for this year is still below that of 2023, the market has the nation's highest 12-month average daily rate of $551 — approximately $120 higher than the next destination on STR’s rankings, the Hawaii/Kauai islands.
- The wildfires that swept through the island last August have had a lasting effect on visitation and occupancy, but Maui’s hotel performance was slowing before the disaster due to weakening domestic leisure demand and lagging international visitor recovery, according to Hise.
Dive Insight:
Though still a leader, Maui was the only part of Hawaii to see an ADR decline in the past 12 months, which could be due to hotels housing displaced residents and area recovery support workers at “more reasonable” prices, according to Hise’s report.
Meanwhile, the island’s occupancy levels dipped in the Kaanapali/Lahaina/Kapalua area, which was affected more by the wildfires than other areas of the island, according to Hise. Outside of the Kaanapali area, however, 12-month average occupancy on Maui increased year over year, and ADR also did not decline as much, STR said.
STR projects Maui’s annual RevPAR to hit peak levels again in 2025, according to Hise.
Elsewhere in Hawaii, the island of Oahu was the sole market to see hotel performance growth, with STR noting “diversified demand segments” such as strong group and corporate travel. Oahu had the second-highest 12-month occupancy in the U.S. at nearly 81%, just behind New York, according to Hise.
In May, the Oahu market saw the second-highest events volume growth in the U.S., bolstered by weddings and events in the education and consulting industries, according to Knowland.
Though visitors are returning to Maui, there are still far fewer than before the fires, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which logged 237,000 visitors to the island in July, a “significant decrease” from the 297,000 visitors the year before.
However, hotels that closed in the aftermath of the fires — such as the Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows — are reopening to guests. The Hawaii Tourism Authority’s “Mālama Maui” campaign is also working to encourage tourists to return to the island.
