Tourism to the Hawaii Islands has suffered tremendously. Over the course of the last year the Islands have seen a decrease in tourism from the same month the previous year of roughly 20% to now even 35%. As businesses in the Islands fight to stay open, they each find a different challenge.
Hotels
Businesses associated with hotels have suffered the most. With hotel occupancy down the greatest of all accommodations, employees as well as vendors are equally suffering. Unemployment from the hotels has skyrocketed and a lot of small businesses have lost their largest clients. The Waikoloa Beach Resort has attempted to be proactive in hosting concerts quarterly to try to boost traffic into the resorts. This has been beneficial to all the businesses within the resort, but it only lasts 2-3 days.
Vacation Rentals
Vacation Rentals have not seem to suffer as much as hotels from an occupancy perspective. While occupancy has averaged only going down 10%, the rates have reduced by almost 25%. High end vacation rentals such as Kolea in the Waikoloa Beach Resort, have seem to be a very nice alternative to vacationers who typically stay in the hotels. Vacation Rentals offer a cost effective alternative to hotels for vacationers that go to the Islands annually.
Hawaii Activities
Activity vendors have suffered greatly. Most vacationers are barely getting by to afford their accommodations and airfare and are not willing to spend that extra money on activities. While the Hawaii Islands offer an array of things to see and do, most people are passing on them in attempt to save money. HawaiiVacationStop.com has seen a drop in sales of 34% over the course of the last year. The vendors seem to be cutting out the middleman in attempt to stay in business.
With all of this in mind, Hawaii is still the top vacation destination in the US and some even feel in the world. Once the economy rebounds, you are sure to see a drastic boost in tourism to the Hawaiian Islands.
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