HOSPITALITY
ADVISORS has released statistics for February that
indicate a slowdown in visitor arrivals. Statewide hotel occupancy
declined from 87.3% to 79.4%, with Maui registering the smallest
decline and Oahu the largest. The report follows similar weakness
in January. The trend for summer remains unclear, with some hotels
reporting strong advance bookings and some anticipating
difficulties, resorting to value-added incentives and discounting.
THE MAUNA
KEA BEACH HOTEL will remain closed until late 2008. The
iconic property owned by Prince Hotels was closed after damage from
a series of earthquakes on Oct. 15. The $50 million budgeted for
the hotel goes well beyond earthquake-caused repairs and includes
planned upgrades to property. The remake will include the adjacent
Mauna Kea Golf Course, which will close in May to be re-grassed and
have its irrigation systems upgraded. The work on the course will
be done by Reese Jones, son of the course's designer, Robert Trent
Jones Sr.
THE MOLOKAI
AIR SHUTTLE has ended service to Molokai due to a
scheduling dispute with the Federal Aviation Administration. The
carrier, which carried 100 to 500 passengers per day aboard
nine-passenger Piper Chieftan aircraft, operated without a fixed
and published schedule, which violates FAA rules. The shutdown
leaves only Pacific Wings providing intermittent flights to the
isolated airport serving the Kalaupapa Settlement.
LANDOWNER
MAUI LAND & PINEAPPLE has acquired a stake in the
partnership that owns the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. The property is
closing July 2 for a six-month, $95 million remake that will
include the conversion of a portion of its hotel rooms into
condominiums, many of which will be part of the hotel's rental
inventory.
THE HAWAII
SUPERFERRY has cleared environmental hurdles and will
likely start interisland service, as planned, in July. The ferry
will travel between Honolulu and Maui and Honolulu and Kauai, with
a second ferry opening service to the island of Hawaii in 2009.
Opponents had fought in the courts to require environmental impact
statements that the ferry was exempted from providing. Ferry
pricing is expected to be competitive with interisland air
fares.
Hawaii
Editor: Allan Seiden
Phone: (808) 734-4677
[email protected]
For promotional
opportunities in the Hawaii E-letter, contact Debbie Joseph at [email protected].