Hawaii Vacation Packages
The number of visitors to Hawaii is continually improving and the volume of Hawaii vacation packages sold by travel agents, airlines, hoteliers and destination marketing companies is growing. Tourism, Hawaii’s number one industry, is leading Hawaii’s recovery from recession.
A recent survey by Hospitality Advisors, LLC shows a steady improvement in Hawaii tourism. The company found that statewide hotel occupancy averaged 75.7 percent in August 2010, an increase of 6.3 percent from the comparable period last year.
These numbers also reflect the growing confidence of airlines serving the Hawaii market. Hawaiian Airlines is expanding its routes both domestically and internationally, recently adding a flight from Las Vegas to Maui and launching service from Japan and South Korea in the coming months. Alaska Airlines is expanding its routes to Hawaii; while Allegiant Air will launch service to Hawaii from smaller cities in the continental US beginning in 2011.
This recovery, led by improvements in the state’s ability to sell air travel, hotel rooms and Hawaii vacation packages in general, is helping keep the state’s unemployment rate numbers low. Hawaii’s unemployment rate is currently 6.4 percent, while the US national average rate is 9.6 percent. This contrasts dramatically with other destination areas like Las Vegas, where unemployment currently hovers around 14%.
However, some argue that the news is not so good for Hawaii’s visitor industry, citing that average room prices remain relatively flat. They claim that most visitors to Hawaii book their vacations because they are attracted by deeply discounted prices and that such discounts on Hawaii vacation packages are not good for the overall tourism industry, presumably because airlines, hotels and car rental companies are making less money.
Others believe that discount Hawaii vacation packages are good for the overall travel industry and that those who focus exclusively on the average price of Hawaii vacation packages are missing the big picture. An increase in the number of tourists is beneficial to Hawaii because more packages are sold and because of spillover benefits elsewhere in the economy served by the travel market. This includes increased spending on meals, souvenirs, tours and activities, etc.
There is another important argument to support the benefits of keeping package prices low, at least for now. Due to the recession, other major tourist destination areas that compete with Hawaii, such as Florida, the Caribbean and Mexico, are struggling to maintain their share of the “fun and sun” market. As we head into the peak winter season, these traditional Hawaiian competitors are under tremendous financial pressure to cut the price of their own vacation packages even lower than they are now. Therefore, any increase in Hawaii vacation packages could exacerbate tourist losses to these alternative Hawaii destinations.
