2010 Maui Economic Forecast

Aloha Kakou:

This morning I attended the 35th annual Business Outlook Forum. This seminar, produced by First Hawaiian Bank, brings the bank's economic advisers together with Maui's business community to discuss the current and future economic situation.

Some interesting points from today's discussion:

*Annual visitor growth was down 10.6% in 2008 and down 6.5% for 2009
*Hawaii tourism will not fully recover until the US mainland economy regains strength
*Maui's reliance on tourism as the dominant economic engine means more needs to be done to promote Maui as a destination
*Maui's marketing strategy to attract higher spending visitors means a steeper drop in visitor spending due to the new trend of frugality
*Tourists are spending less per day, less on non-essentials like activities and are in general buying less
*Maui county unemployment is currently about 10%
*General Excise Tax revenue is down about 12% in both 2008 and 2009
*The median condo price has declined from 2008's $575k to $420k this year, down 27%
*Maui condo sales are down 46% (510 units in 2008, 275 units in 2009)

You'll see the article in tomorrow's Maui News but I wanted to give you the inside scoop first.