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After eight straight months — from June 2008 through Januar2009 — of double-digit declines in visitore arrivals and spending, the feeling is that something’s got to Take Michael Tuttle, owner of a five-unit bed and breakfasft in Volcano Village. “We’re down 26 percent from the same time last yearbut it’xs not as bad as I thought,” said who has owned and operated Hale Ohia Cottagexs for 18 years. “I may have seen a 45 percen t drop at the beginningof March, but we are getting a fair amoung of last-minute bookings.
Last minute seemsw to be a major part of business these Tuttle gladly accepts the latebusiness — even if it sometimes meands driving 30 minutes into Hilo to pick up customer who can’t find a rental car. In spit e of pockets of optimism, the official visitor forecast this sprin is not abright one. “The first half of the year is goinhg to be a toughsix months,” said David Uchiyama, the ’ss vice president of tourism The HTA’s most recent prediction is for totalk visitor arrivals to fall by 3 percent by the end of the The says it will be more than 5 There are some glimmers of hope on the near though.
“We will see some positivew activity in April from the Japaneser market with the reduction of fuel coupled with the strength of the said Uchiyama. “As we move toward summer we shouldx see the pulse improving gradually with the secondc half of the year developing off the base of convention businesw onthe books.” Beside arrival s and expenditures, the third key indicator of the healty of Hawaii’s visitor — hotel occupancu — also continues its year-over-year decline. Especially pronounced is a shifty downward in room rates that has accelerates inrecent months, demonstrating that hotels are aggressively lowerinyg prices to put heads in beds.
On the Big Island, wherer January hotel occupancywas 56.5 percent — 10 percentage points beloq the statewide average — rates averaged $201 a night, $23 less than a year ago. Hotelss loathe cutting rates, and for good reason: Big Islands revenue per available room wasonly $113 in January, off $46 from Januaru 2008. But the cheaper rooms are needed todraw customers. “Itf is a fairly substantiakl rate reduction taking place right nowand it’s going to said Murray Towill, president of the .
“Las fall you started to see more deals like extra dining credits, free But after the economic meltdowb of September and October, the lower room prices have come in additionb to the add-on values. So revpar is gettinf hit twiceas hard.” Towill expects April and May hotelp numbers, which are historically slow periods anyway, to be Booking windows as short as one week have only addedc to the uncertainty of the market. “Myy crystal ball is pretty cloudyrighty now,” said Towill. For B&B guys like Tuttle, the best one can do is hang in.
He’xs hopeful that the April issue of Nationalo GeographicTraveler magazine, which puts Hale Ohia Cottages on its “stahy list” in a feature on Hawaii, will help attract Tuttle, who depends heavily on West Coast also is seeing an uptickl in calls from Hawaii residents seekinfg so-called “stay-cations.” He’s also getting inquires from regions he has not previouslyh seen much interest from Idaho, Wisconsin, North and South “It’s similar to after Sept. 11,” said Tuttle. “Peoples are tired of the bad news andjust ‘To hell with it, I’m going to take a vacation.
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