Exciting, Aren't They?

Aloha Kakou:

The new cooling towers have been in place for a couple of weeks now. You probably thought that they were going to be installed in the parking lot near the flagpoles and, given the amount of time they spent there, no one could blame you! Their new home is in the old plant nursery, at the entrance to the garage. The plumbers and electricians have been hard at work making all of their requisite connections. According to Sam, the cutover is to take place next Tuesday, starting at 7 pm. The idea is that the air conditioning system will be shut down at that time, the technicians will do their technical magic, and the system will be up and running on Wednesday morning, when we can look forward to the start of cooler air conditioning with greater efficiency and the accompanying smaller electric bills.

More Maui Economic News

Aloha Kakou:

Paul Brewbaker is the chief economist for Bank of Hawaii. He is probably the most quoted individual regarding what's happening with our state economy. His take is that the economy here really is not that bad (remember, he's talking about the big picture!) and he looks for a recovery by the end of 2009. Here's the article from today's Maui News:
http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/507771.html?nav=10

While representing a relatively small portion of Maui's overall vacation lodging, timeshare properties are doing much better than the average hotel. Of course, when you have units that have 52 or so owners, each of whom is paying a monthly mortgage and a hefty maintenance fee, you're bound to have many of them show up for their weeks just to get a return on their "investment". Studies have shown that timeshare owners spend less while they're here than does the average visitor. Also, timeshare owners are less likely to be affected by the fluctuations in airfare as they have already paid for the lodging portion of their vacation and, consequently, are willing to pay a little more for their transportation. More information on current timeshare occupancies is here:
http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/507431.html?nav=8

Maui News Recap of Yesterday's Economic News

Aloha Kakou:

In case you missed today's Maui News, here is their article regarding the state's economic news.

The information is the same as that presented by the Honolulu papers yesterday, but with more emphasis on the Valley Isle. The headline and the subheadline pretty much tell the whole tale, unfortunately.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/507698.html?nav=10

Hawaii Stamps and Quarter

Aloha Kakou:

Now that it's just about to draw to a close, the US Mint's State Quarter program is preparing to release the Hawaii state quarter. The Mint has released five quarters a year for each of the past ten years. Since Hawaii is the 50th state, we are the final coin in the series. The quarter features King Kamehameha ("the conqueror of the Islands", as the the old song goes) along with a map of the state and the state motto "the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness".

On September 2, the United States Post Office will issue it's second in a series of flag stamps. This second series includes a stamp with the Hawaii state flag and a lehua flower over a profile of the islands. The Hawaii flag stamp will be sold in a set with nine other state flag stamps.

Information on both the quarter and the stamp can be found by following these links:

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/50sq_program/states/index.cfm?state=HI

http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10152&storeId=10001&productId=39951&langId=-1

July Visitor Statistics

Aloha Kakou:

Two stories today, one in each of the Honolulu papers, talk about the continuing downturn in Hawaii's tourism business. Compared to last July, the number of visitors to the state was down this July by about 14% and the number of visitors to Maui was down 22%.

In conjunction with lower visitor counts, total visitor expenditures are also down. In the case of Maui, visitors spent 27% less this July than they did in July of 2007. A silver lining to these storm clouds may be that, as visitors are looking to get more value for their dollar, our condominiums may look more attractive to guests who wish to save a little money on their trip by preparing some meals themselves. Our decrease in occupancy may have been blunted somewhat by those value-seeking guests.

The state of Hawaii is looking to possibly spend an additional $10 million in advertising to help to attract visitors.

One of the bright spots is, with their now strong dollar, visits to Hawaii by Canadians are increasing.

Additionally, Hawaii's governor and lieutenant governor are planning marketing trips to Asia this fall in an attempt to lay some groundwork for those visitors.

Here are the links to the newspaper articles:

http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/27/news/story01.html

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080827/NEWS01/808270409/1001

Occupancy

Aloha Kakou:

Monday's "on-book" report tells us what we can expect in the way of occupancy for the current month. It also tells us how much occupancy we have "on the books" for each of the next two months.

As I have mentioned in the monthly newsletter, occupancy for the entire island is down this summer. All Maui hotel properties are struggling with lower occupancies for 2008. There are just fewer tourists visiting this year, for the reasons that have been enumerated previously: two airlines leaving the market; higher oil (and jet fuel) prices; economic uncertainty amongst the demographic that represents our guests; and a general trend for potential guests to "stay-cation" or to vacation much closer to home.

This Monday's on-book report show that we will end August about 25% lower than where I would like us to be. Also, going into fall, it looks as though our occupancies will be about 30% lower than last year for the months of September and October.

We are still showing sold out at Christmas. Most of those guests book while they are here for the next year. We will begin to contact those guests to reconfirm. Bookings for the first quarter of next year are close to where they were for '08 at this time in '07, but they are lagging slightly, nonetheless.

Which side was Hawaii on during the Civil War?

Aloha Kakou:

You've probably never given any thought to it. I know I hadn't until I read this article today in the Honolulu Star Bulletin. Who knew?

http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/26/features/story01.html

Best Hawaii Hotel for Leisure

Aloha Kakou!

It is with no small amount of pride that I announce the Outrigger Maui Eldorado's award for the Best Hawaii Hotel for Leisure. This is an award given by Orbitz, one of our electronic wholesale partners.

Orbitz Best In Stay winners were selected based on the overall numeric score they received by Orbitz customers. Reviews and scores for each hotel are collected only from Orbitz customers who have booked and stayed at the hotel. Reviewers are asked to rate a variety of hotel attributes on a scale of 1 to 5, including amenities, maintenance, hotel staff, room comfort, location, and value. The "overall score" is an average of all reviewer scores submitted. The Outrigger Maui Eldorado rated a 4.9 out of 5!

Thank you to all of you owners who have helped to make the Outrigger Maui Eldorado successful. I appreciate our ongoing partnership.

Outrigger Press Release:

http://www.outrigger.com/aboutus_pr_detail.aspx?release_id=614

Award noted on our home page:

http://www.outrigger.com/hotels-resorts/hawaiian-islands/maui/outrigger-maui-eldorado

Aloha!

Aloha Kakou!

When I first arrived back here at the Maui Eldorado, one comment I heard over and over was that owners felt they were not getting enough communication from us here at the property. So, in addition to the monthly newsletter, I've created this blog to share with you items of interest.

Wherever in the world you are, I know it is hard to get any real information about Maui. Hawaii is usually given short shrift (if any shrift at all!) in Mainland media, with Maui getting even less coverage. Here, I may pass along a link to an article in the local media about our economic situation, or information about the property, or press releases from Outrigger, or myriad other bits and pieces that I think may be of interest to you. Some will be humorous, some will be serious, some will probably make you go "Huh? What the heck is he thinking?". Don't worry, there won't be a quiz later!

Of course, feel free to let me know what you're thinking, either about what I have written or about something you'd like to see me address. This thing is a work in progress, so we'll just have to see how it goes.