In April 2020, the total monthly supply of statewide vacation rentals was 319,500 unit nights and monthly demand was 16,000 unit nights, resulting in an average monthly unit occupancy of 5.0 percent (Figure 1).
In comparison, Hawaii’s hotels were 8.9 percent occupied in April 2020. It is important to note that unlike hotels, condominium hotels, and timeshare resorts, vacation rental units are not necessarily available year-round or each day of the month. The unit average daily rate (ADR) for vacation rental units statewide in April was $190, which was higher than the ADR for hotels ($131).
On April 7, City & County of Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell was the first mayor in the state to announce that short-term rentals (lodgings that provide guest accommodations for less than 30 days, other than hotels and motels) are deemed as non-essential businesses during the COVID-19 emergency and may not operate. The other county mayors followed with similar orders. Furthermore, vacation rentals are not on the state’s list of essential businesses during this emergency period.
Also in April, 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. The quarantine order was expanded on April 1 to include interisland travelers.
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 April, Maui County had the largest vacation rental supply of all four counties with 95,300 unit nights, which is a decrease of 62.5 percent compared to a year ago. Unit demand was 3,600 unit nights (-98.2%), resulting in 3.8 percent occupancy (-74.7 percentage points) with an ADR of $237 (-3.6%). Maui County hotels were 11.0 percent occupied with an ADR of $121.
On Oahu, the vacation rental supply in April was 122,100 unit nights (-57.8%). Unit demand was 5,100 unit nights (-97.5%), resulting in 4.2 percent occupancy (-67.3 percentage points) and an ADR of $147 (-10.3%). Oahu hotels were 8.0 percent occupied with an ADR of $142.
There were 67,700 available unit nights (-65.5%) on the island of Hawaii in April. Unit demand was 3,800 unit nights (-97.0%), resulting in 5.6 percent occupancy (-59.1 percentage points) with an ADR of $164 (+3.0%). Hawaii Island hotels were 12.4 percent occupied with an ADR of $107.
Kauai had the fewest number of available unit nights in April at 34,500 (-67.5%). Unit demand was 3,500 unit nights (-95.8%), resulting in 10.1 percent occupancy (-68.3 percentage points) with an ADR of $234 (-9.1%). Kauai hotels were 7.0 percent occupied with an ADR of $131.
Tables of vacation rental performance statistics, including data presented in the report are available for viewing online at: https://www.
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