Hawaii Accommodations: Are Vacation Rentals Keeping Up?

Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by Transparent Intelligence, Inc. The data in this report specifically excludes units reported in HTA’s Hawaii Hotel Performance Report and Hawaii Timeshare Quarterly Survey Report.

In November 2019, the total monthly supply of statewide vacation rentals was 919,100 unit nights and monthly demand was 630,500 unit nights, resulting in an average monthly unit occupancy of 68.6 percent.

In comparison, Hawaii’s hotels were 78.8 percent occupied in November 2019. It is important to note that unlike hotels, condominium hotels, and timeshare resorts, vacation rental units are not necessarily available year-round or each day of the month. The unit average daily rate (ADR) for vacation rental units statewide in November was $181, lower than the ADR for hotels ($260).

In the report, a vacation rental is defined as the use of a rental house, private room in private home, or shared room/space in private home. This report also does not determine or differentiate between units that are permitted or unpermitted. The “legality” of any given vacation rental unit is determined on a county basis.

Island Highlights

In November, Maui County had the largest vacation rental supply of all four counties at 304,000 unit nights, which is an increase of 32.9 percent compared to a year ago. Unit demand was 231,000 unit nights, resulting in 75.9 percent occupancy (-3.8 percentage points) with an ADR of $220 (+2.9%). Maui County hotels were 74.9 percent occupied with an ADR of $354.

On Oahu, the vacation rental supply in November was 252,000 unit nights. This is a decrease of 4.4 percent from a year ago. Unit demand on Oahu was 170,000 unit nights (-5.4%), resulting in a 67.5 percent occupancy (-0.8 percentage points) and an ADR of $146 (+0.8%). Oahu hotels were 82.0 percent occupied with an ADR of $229.

There were 224,000 available unit nights (+18.9%) on the island of Hawaii. Unit demand was 135,000 unit nights (+18.4%), resulting in 60.2 percent occupancy (-0.2 percentage points) with an ADR of $135 (-8.5%). Hawaii Island hotels were 75.7 percent occupied with an ADR of $245.

Kauai had the fewest number of available unit nights at 139,000 (+32.8%). Unit demand was 94,000 unit nights (+16.7%), resulting in 68.1 percent occupancy (-9.4 percentage points) with an ADR of $211 (-9.2%). Kauai hotels were 72.2 percent occupied with an ADR of $250.

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