For Immediate Release: March 9, 2004
DBEDT Release News 04-07

Note: The 2003 Visitor Plant Inventory Report can be viewed here.

Honolulu--An inventory of visitor accommodations in 2003 showed a .3 percent increase in statewide visitor units from the previous year to 70,977 units, according to the 2003 Visitor Plant Inventory report released by DBEDT today.

"This annual report provides the most comprehensive data available on visitor accommodations in the state and is very valuable for the supply-side analysis of Hawaii's visitor industry," said Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "The total amount of visitor units has been relatively stable for the past decade, though there has been some shifting of conventional hotel rooms to timeshare units and some conversion of economy and budget rooms to the luxury room category."

The report presents results from a survey of visitor units as of May 2003 with data categorized by type of property, class of units, distribution by island, as well as time-share properties and planned developments.

Maui County reported the largest growth in visitor units (+3.3%), reflecting increases on the islands of Maui and Molokai while units on Lanai were unchanged from 2002. Visitor units on Kauai and Hawaii also rose 3.1 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively. Oahu's inventory dropped 2.2 percent to 35,664 units, largely due to several hotel properties converting to condominiums and apartments for residential use.

Increases on the neighbor islands resulted from an expanded effort to survey associations of visitor accommodations to cross check for new or missing properties that were not included in the 2002 database.

Additional Highlights from the 2003 Visitor Plant Inventory Report are presented below:

• By Property Type: Over half of the statewide visitor units in 2003 were located on Oahu. Maui County had the second largest share of visitor units, followed by Hawaii and Kauai counties. Hotels continued to comprise the majority (68.7%) of the visitor units statewide. Condo/hotel properties accounted for the second largest share of visitor units at 23.6 percent, followed by individual vacation unit properties (2.8%). Bed & breakfasts and hostels each comprised less than 1 percent of the total visitor units.
• Timeshare: Statewide, a total of 4,762 timeshare units were in operation, up 4.5 percent from 2002. Close to 35 percent or 1,657 timeshare units were on Kauai, 1,349 units were on Maui, 1,035 units were on Hawaii, 714 units were on Oahu, and 7 units were on Molokai. The majority of the timeshare units (69.8 percent or 3,324 units) were cross-listed as condominium hotels, 386 units were in hotels, 62 units listed as individual vacation units, 38 units were listed apartment hotels, and 952 timeshare units were in the "Other" category
• By Class of Units: Visitor units categorized as "Standard" ($101 to $250 per night rack rate) comprised the largest percentage of the total units statewide. The second largest group of units was those classified as "Deluxe" ($251 to $500 per night), followed by those in the "Budget" ($100 or less per night) and "Luxury" (over $500 per night) categories.

  By island, 85.7 percent of Oahu visitor units were classified as " "Standard" or "Deluxe". Similarly, the majority of the visitor units on Kauai, Hawaii, Maui and Molokai were also in the "Standard" or "Deluxe" price range. In contrast, most of the visitor units on Lanai (95.4 percent) were in the higher-priced "Deluxe" and "Luxury" classes.

  Of the 1,057 properties that responded to the survey in 2003, 991 properties reported their units by class. Over half of the condominium properties (9,441 units) categorized their units as "Standard". Among hotels, nearly 43 percent of the units were classified as "Deluxe" and 39 percent were "standard" units. Hotels had the largest percentage share of "Luxury" units compared to other types of visitor accommodations.

The 2003 Visitor Plant Inventory report is available in Adobe Acrobat format on the DBEDT Web Site: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/economic/visitor-stats/visitor-plant

A limited number of printed copies are available for pick up no charge at:

DBEDT - Research & Analysis Division
One Capitol District Building
250 South Hotel Street, 4th Floor, Diamond Head Wing
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

A shipping and handling charge per report will be applied to all mailing requests at the following rates: $3.50 (U.S. Domestic); $4.00 (Canada); $5.50 (Mexico) and $10.00 (Other International). Only checks will be accepted.

For further information on the reports, contact the DBEDT's Research and Economic Analysis Division at 586-2466.

For more information, contact:
Dave Young
Communications
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov