The State of Hawaii has experienced record levels of visitor arrivals over the last seven years. However, during this time the number of traditional lodging units, such as hotels, condominium hotels, and timeshare resorts has increased minimally (Figure 1).
In 2017, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) began reporting the use of a rental house, private room in private home, and shared room/space in private home in its monthly visitor statistics. Between 2017 and 2018, visitors’ reported use of these three accommodation types during their trip to Hawaii grew 22.9 percent (937,980 to 1,152,846) and represented 11.8 percent of visitor arrivals in 2018.1
The Hawaii Vacation Rental Performance Report published by HTA is intended to provide monthly performance data for vacation rentals, in a similar format to the Hawaii Hotel Performance Report. In this report, a vacation rental is defined as the use of a rental house, 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.
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.
For the month of September 2019, the total monthly supply of statewide vacation rentals was 913,285 unit nights and monthly demand was 622,329 unit nights, resulting in an average monthly unit occupancy of 68.1 percent (Figure 2). In comparison, Hawaii’s hotels were 78.2 percent occupied in September 2019. It is important to note that unlike hotels, condominium hotels, and timeshare resorts, vacation rental units are not necessarily available year-round or even for every day of the month.
The average daily rate (ADR) for vacation rental units statewide in September ($194) was lower than the ADR for hotels ($247). Lodging is one of the costs calculated into visitor spending, which HTA tracks monthly.
Island Highlights
In September, Maui County had the largest vacation rental supply of all four counties at 312,810 unit nights, which is an increase of 24.4 percent compared to a year ago. Unit demand was 226,059, resulting in 72.3 percent occupancy with ADR at $228. Maui County hotels were 72.7 percent occupied with ADR at $319.
Oahu had the second largest vacation rental supply at 241,811 unit nights. This is a decrease of 7.6 percent from a year ago. Unit demand on Oahu was 175,705 unit nights, resulting in 72.7 percent occupancy with ADR at $160. Oahu hotels were 84.1 percent occupied with ADR at $227.
There were 219,294 available unit nights on the island of Hawaii. Unit demand was 127,821, resulting in 58.3 percent occupancy with ADR at $146. Hawaii Island hotels were 67.5 percent occupied with ADR at $222.
Kauai had the fewest number of available unit nights at 139,370. Unit demand was 92,744, resulting in 66.5 percent occupancy with ADR at $241. Kauai hotels were 68.6 percent occupied with the same ADR ($241).
Tables of vacation rental performance statistics, including data presented in the report are available for viewing online at: https://www.
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