For Immediate Release: June 22, 2006
DBEDT Release News 06-17

Note: The 2005 Visitor Plant Inventory Report can be viewed at: www.hawaii.gov/dbedt

Honolulu - According to the 2005 Visitor Plant Inventory report released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) today, the number of visitor accommodation units statewide increased .4 percent in 2005 compared to 2004, to 72,889 units.

"This report represents the most comprehensive data available on land-based visitor accommodations in the state," said Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "According to the data, there has been a shift in conventional hotel rooms to condo/hotel and timeshare units, but for the most part the room inventory is stable. Units classified as Luxury increased 2.2 percent while Standard units decreased 3.5 percent statewide."

The report presents results from a survey of visitor units as of May 2005 with data categorized by type of property, class of units, distribution by island and planned developments.

Hawaii County reported the largest growth in visitor units (+13.1%) followed by Maui County with a 4.4 percent increase. Inventory on Kauai decreased .3 percent and Oahu's inventory dropped 5.1 percent to 34,167 units.

Highlights from the 2005 Visitor Plant Inventory Report are presented below:

• By Property Type: 46.9 percent of the statewide visitor units in 2005 were located on Oahu. Maui County had the second largest share of visitor units (25.3%), followed by Hawaii (15.6%) and Kauai (11.1%) counties.

  Hotels continued to comprise the majority (63%) of the visitor units statewide. Condo/hotel properties accounted for the second largest share of visitor units at 20.7 percent, followed by timeshare properties (9.6%) and then individual vacation unit properties (3.3%). Bed & breakfast and hostels each comprised less than 1 percent of the total visitor units.

  Compared with 2004, Oahu timeshare units increased 25.9 percent and condo/hotel units rose 11 percent while hotel units decreased 8.5 percent. Maui's condo/hotel inventory increased 6 percent and timeshare units rose 22.5 percent. Hotel units on Maui decreased 1.1 percent. On Kauai condo/hotel units decreased 1.1 percent; timeshare units increased 4 percent while hotel units decreased 6.1 percent. Hawaii islands' condo/hotel units increased 27.5 percent, timeshare units rose 19 percent and hotel units increased 7.1 percent.

• Timeshare: Statewide, a total of 6,839 timeshare units were in operation, up 15.5 percent compared to 2004. Close to 25.9 percent or 2,090 timeshare units were on Kauai, 1,720 units were on Maui, 1,592 units were on Hawaii, 1,422 units were on Oahu, and 15 units were on Molokai.
• 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 were 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.

2005 Class of Units by Island (% share of total units)

By island, 82.4 percent of Oahu visitor units were classified as "Standard" or "Deluxe". Similarly, the majority of the visitor units on Kauai, Hawaii, and Maui was also in the "Standard" or "Deluxe" price range. In contrast, most of the visitor units on Lanai (95.1 percent) were in the higher-priced "Deluxe" and "Luxury" classes, Half of Molokai's visitor units were in the "Budget" category.

Of the 1,266 properties that responded to the survey in 2005, 1,212 properties reported their units by class. Over half of the condominium hotel properties (15,107 units) categorized their units as "Standard". Among hotels, nearly 43.2 percent of the units were classified as "Deluxe" and 34.7 percent were "standard" units. Hotels had the largest percentage share of "Luxury" units compared to other types of visitor accommodations.

The 2005 Visitor Plant Inventory report is available in Adobe Acrobat format on the DBEDT Web Site: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt

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

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

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:
Marsha Wienert, Tourism Liaison
Phone: (808) 586-2362
Email: marsha.wienert@hawaii.gov

Dave Young
Communications
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov