Travel Weekly's contributing editor for Hawaii, Shane Nelson, recently spoke with Anthony Adler, president of Cruise and Resort, an agency based in Sherman Oaks, Calif. The two discussed the agency's recent booking pace for the peak season in Hawaii, increasing airfares to the state and what sets the Islands apart from other summertime destinations.
Travel Weekly: How are your bookings to Hawaii this summer shaping up in comparison to last summer?
Anthony Adler: Bookings are up about 15% to 20%, so we're happy about that. ... I think [Hawaii] is also a beneficiary of business that was going to Mexico from the West Coast. It's very sad for the Mexican properties, because no matter how good the deal is, it almost doesn't matter at this point.
I also think the Hawaii hotels have done a real good job of keeping the promotional things going on. The rates, while not as cheap as they've been before, are nowhere near as high as they were before, and we can feel confident that the properties we work with take very good care of our clients.
TW: Did you notice any slowdown on bookings to the Islands following the March 11 Japan disasters? Any radiation fears?
Adler: None whatsoever. We certainly had people who weren't willing to go to Asia anymore, but it did not extend at all toward our Hawaii clientele. There wasn't any real association. I think they probably just felt if it's going to flow to Hawaii, it's probably then going to just make its way to Los Angeles, too, so you're in trouble either way. So nobody canceled, and nobody mentioned any of that as a deterrent.
TW: Have you seen an increase in airfares to Hawaii recently? Has that affected your ability to sell Hawaii?
Adler: Yes. They have gone higher, but it has not impacted our sales very much. It just seems like it's not too severe. Also, some of the wholesalers have had some contracted rates that have kept it bearable, and it's offset to some degree by the excellent deals that are being offered at the hotels. So the overall, all-in price is not as horrible as it was a few years ago. I guess it was about three years ago when occupancy was high, airfares were great, and then all of a sudden airfares went way up, and you couldn't sell [Hawaii] at all. We've seen higher airfares lately, but not enough to really impact business.
And yes, Hawaii airfares are up, but not as significantly as European airfares. So when it's in comparison to Paris, it's going to cost [travelers] a whole lot more. And if they go to Paris, chances are they're going to go to London, as well, and if you try to do an air schedule that includes both, it just gets unbelievably expensive right now. It's much higher than it usually is, and it's kind of like where Hawaii was three or four years ago where [fares] have just gone crazy. It's one of the reasons the cruise business is down a lot for U.S. passengers in Europe. So Hawaii benefits when other destinations are so outrageous. We're booking a lot of Europe, but when people are deciding, Hawaii wins in that battle of total vacation cost.
We have had some people who go regularly to Hawaii over the Christmas holidays who are [reserving] lower-category rooms because the prices are up a little over last year, and they don't want to spend more money, and the air is a little more. So they're going from deluxe oceanfront to oceanview to just bring things down a little bit.
TW: With gas prices so much higher recently, are you seeing people looking to spend less on vacations?
Adler: The gas thing hasn't affected us yet. I'm sure if it stays real high it will. What we've actually seen is a request for more drive vacations, not less. And that's been a resistance to traveling to Europe with the higher airfares and lack of reward seats.
TW: With the death of Osama bin Laden and fears of retaliation, do you think travelers might be more hesitant to visit international destinations? Might that be a positive for Hawaii?
Adler: It's too soon to tell. So far it hasn't. My feeling is that these things change in a heartbeat, when all of a sudden there is a terrorist attack somewhere.
I think we've just got to the point where people just expect at the airport that they're going to be going through all sorts of procedures. My wife and I used to get to our flights a half an hour before [departure]. Now we get there two hours before. You have to adapt to a new world.
TW: What makes Hawaii such a great summertime destination for travelers?
Adler: Certainly because it's easy to get to. We can sell Hawaii against a drive vacation because you take off from the airport and you can land on Maui, you can land on Oahu. Boom, you're there before you know it. That's a gigantic positive. When we have to sell places that require change of aircraft and delays at airports of five hours here or three hours there, especially if they're with a family, it becomes a much tougher sell.
It's also a tropical vacation without a change of currency or language barrier, and those are also positives. Hawaii is also considered very, very clean, especially with families. And I think for the most part, the people we send to Hawaii are getting good service wherever they go. That isn't always the case, for example, in the Caribbean. People ... don't feel they get the same level of service there that they get in Hawaii.
And we've learned through our many trips to Hawaii that there is so much to do there. Families will go out to see the waterfalls, they'll go out to do the ziplining, they'll do horseback riding and different types of tours and still get back in the early afternoon to go to the pool or the beach.
We send way more people to Waikiki than we used to, now that they've got the Beach Walk over there. Most of our people go to Maui or Kauai, but doing a two- or three-day stopover on Oahu is now a possibility, whereas before it was difficult to sell. The upgrades in Waikiki have been really important for selling it. Now there's something to see.
Another positive is communications; you can communicate from Hawaii. The Internet access, things like that, it's easier in Hawaii than when you're in another country. For people like me, I can take my laptop. I can actually relax because I don't feel the same kind of pressure. You can use your cellphone. It's not $3 a call, because you're still in the United States. Those are little things that add up to a whole lot when you're selling.
A lot of our clients, they have all of the money in the world, but the time they don't have, so they really want to maximize it with their families. They're willing to be very experiential and do all kinds of things. They just don't want to waste the days, so when you tell them ways that make it easier for them both to communicate as well as feel comfortable going to certain places for dinner, all those little things set their mind at ease.
TW: What advice would you give other agents looking to grow their summer business to Hawaii?
Adler: Play to the strengths. It's clean, U.S., no passports, tropical. I think in sales you have to paint a picture of what they're going to be doing. You have to place them at the beach. If they're going to the Grand Wailea [Resort on Maui], you have to describe a water park that's like no other you've ever seen. Describe all there is to do in the Islands. But also make it clear that when you want to do nothing, you're in a piece of paradise that's excellent for that, as well. The properties we sell, the four- and five-star properties, it's a hell of a nice place to go and relax as well as go and do things. ... If you sound like you know what you're talking about, clients get excited, too.