Hawaii Vacation Rentals Performing Better Than Hotels

Hawaii’s hotels were 44.5 percent occupied in March 2020 while vacation rentals were at 64 percent. It is important to note that unlike hotels, condominium hotels, and timeshare resorts, Hawaii vacation rentals are not necessarily available year-round or each day of the month.

The total monthly supply of statewide vacation rentals was 871,500 unit nights and monthly demand was 557,400 unit nights. The unit average daily rate (ADR) for vacation rental units statewide in March was $239, lower than the ADR for hotels ($280).

In March the majority of flights to Hawaii were cancelled because of COVID-19. As of March 26, all passengers arriving from out-of-state were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine.

HTA’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by Transparent Intelligence, Inc. The data in this report specifically excludes units reported in HTA’s Hawaii Hotel Performance Report and Hawaii Timeshare Quarterly Survey Report. In this report, a vacation rental is defined as the use of a rental house, condominium unit, private room in private home, or shared room/space in private home. This report also does not determine or differentiate between units that are permitted or unpermitted. The “legality” of any given vacation rental unit is determined on a county basis.

Island Highlights

In March, Maui County had the largest Hawaii vacation rentals supply of all four counties with 287,100 unit nights, which is an increase of 30.7 percent compared to a year ago. Unit demand was 200,000 unit nights, resulting in 69.6 percent occupancy (-13.5 percentage points) with an ADR of $301 (+10.2%). Maui County hotels were 47.4 percent occupied with an ADR of $413.

On Oahu, the vacation rental supply in March was 246,100 unit nights (-9.0%). Unit demand was 143,100 unit nights (-30.7%), resulting in 58.2 percent occupancy (-18.2 percentage points) and an ADR of $176 (+10.7%). Oahu hotels were 42.9 percent occupied with an ADR of $218.

There were 203,000 available unit nights (+11.0%) on the island of Hawaii in March. Unit demand was 133,800 unit nights (-0.3%), resulting in 65.9 percent occupancy (-7.5 percentage points) with an ADR of $183 (+10.1%). Hawaii Island hotels were 46.1 percent occupied with an ADR of $274.

Kauai had the fewest number of available unit nights in March at 135,300 (+35.8%). Unit demand was 80,600 unit nights (-2.8%), resulting in 59.6 percent occupancy (-23.6 percentage points) with an ADR of $292 (+9.2%). Kauai hotels were 45.7 percent occupied with an ADR of $296.

Tables of Hawaii vacation rentals performance statistics, including data presented in the report are available for viewing online at: https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/research/infrastructure-research/

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