Just a few years ago the Hawaii Visitor's Bureau stated that Hawaii has a
shortage of hotel rooms. So they held a news conference to announce that
the industry would prefer to attract visitors with higher standards. This
strategy would be implemented by raising the daily rates to discourage
travelers on a fixed budget and the Ma & Pa Kettles from Arkansas.
Well this expert advise just turned around and bit them right in the ass.
Welcome to Hawaii, which is also known as Little Tokyo for the well-heeled.
Low Visitor Arrival Numbers Affecting Jobs
Written by Howard Dicus - hdicus@kgmb9.com
August 11, 2008 07:32 PM
http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/8941/40/
By mid August, Hawaii's 2008 arrivals by air will hit 5-million, but last
year we passed that milestone on the first day of July. And tourism
downturn continues to take its toll on jobs.
Employees of Musashi in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki are the latest to be told
that lack of visitor spending will force the restaurant to close in a few
weeks. The ILWU told the Maui News it has informal layoff notices from more
than a dozen hotels.
A three-year comparison of arrivals by air for the first seven months shows
we're short about 300-thousand visitors even after dialing out returning
locals, which typically make up 13% of the total arrivals figures.
International arrivals are down about 8%.
Arrivals from the mainland are still up on Kauai, but down from 17 to 22
percent to the other islands. This look at the first week of August shows
the actual arrival shortfall. It can't be blamed on the Aloha and ATA
failures because airlift is down more than capacity is.
The Tourism Authority meets tomorrow and ordinarily would brainstorm for
ideas to lure more visitors. Instead, it will debate the fate of CEO Rex
Johnson, whose x-rated emails were reported by an auditor. |