Paul Brewbaker is the principal of TZ Economics and one of the most respected economists in Hawaii. Brewbaker issued a statement where he warns that despite the gains seen in the tourism market over the past few years, the visitor industry is running out of room to grow unless new accommodations and hotel rooms are added. This is contrary to the state’s plan to maintain the number of hotel rooms and grow the tourism industry by increasing visitor spending instead of visitor arrivals. Paul Brewbaker commented, “The party’s already over, you just don’t know it. The assumption people will come here and we’ll take more of their money hasn’t happened for 20 years. Any reasonable view of economic growth would not be supported by the state’s sustainable tourism strategy.”
According to Hospitality Advisors LLC, there were only 6,225 new visitor units that were added in Hawaii from between 2000 and 2011. Unless more buildings are added, Brewbaker argues that tourism will struggle to grow. Brewbaker stated, “At some point, the people will say I’m buying that one over there (a destination other than Hawaii). Over time, this leads to reputation effects. Then we stop (growing) in 2015. We never get any more people than we are getting and it’s forever. People need to get over the idea that more is worse and less is better. Why would anyone be willing to accept our current carrying capacity. You can’t have more jobs, greater income, a bigger sewer system, better roadways and mass transit if you don’t grow tourism.”
Not everyone in the industry agrees with Paul Brewbaker’s arguments. Other experts note that the “shoulder season” still has not even come close to capacity and neighbor islands have a lot of room to grow in terms of occupancy rates. Hawaii Tourism Authority’s vice president of brand management, David Uchiyama, added, “We actually have growth potential beyond (8.5 million) if you factor in the potential of the cruise lines, which is an area that we are working on now and hope to affect more in the coming year.”
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 3-10-2013, 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
