The Pacific Asia Travel Association and the Travel and Tourism Research Association hosted a 2013 Outlook and Economic Forecast panel to discuss the Hawaii tourism industry and the outlook for 2013. While each set of experts and economists had slightly different predictions, all trends point to an excellent year. The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) predicts that the number of arrivals to the Hawaiian Islands will increase by 3.6 percent in 2013 and that visitor spending will increase by approximately 11 percent. In comparison, the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism predicts a 3.9 percent increase in arrivals and a 5.2 percent increase in spending. Discussing hotel occupancy, president and CEO of Hospitality Advisors LLC, Joesph Toy, stated that he predicted that hotel occupancy rates would increase by 3 percent across the state, and that hotels would see a 6.9 percent increase in their average daily rate.
Hawaii Tourism Authority’s director of tourism research, Daniel Nahoopii, believes that Hawaii’s visitor industry still has a lot of room to grow. Nahoopii stated, “The new peak for this year was not the peak for the U.S. market. We had more visitors from there in 2006 and 2007. The peak for international arrivals goes even farther back.” One of the main goals for the Hawaii Tourism Authority in 2013 is to encourage visitors to spend more time on the neighbor islands, which have significantly low hotel occupancy rates as compared to Oahu.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-1-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
