Cutting tourism marketing 'suicidal'

Aloha Kakou:

David Carey, Outrigger's president and CEO, wrote this piece which appeared in last Sunday's Honolulu Advertiser discussing the current state of Hawaii tourism and the need for the state to continue spending money on marketing efforts.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100221/OPINION03/2210337/Cutting+tourism+marketing++suicidal+

Some Positive Numbers

Aloha Kakou:

Preliminary figures for January show state-wide increases in both visitor arrivals and in spending.

January, 2010's arrivals were up 2% and visitor spending increased 3.5% compared to January, 2009.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100226/BREAKING03/100226028/Visitor+arrivals++spending+up+

Air Seats Increase

Aloha Kakou:

The number of airline seats to Hawaii is increasing by 6% this spring. Many of these seats are to Kahului airport.

In March, Continental Airlines will begin four flights a week to OGG from Orange County. Alaska Air will begin weekly flights from Sacramento to Kahului in addition to four weekly flights from San Jose.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100226/NEWS09/2260401/Hawaii+flights+to+grow+by+6++more+seats+

Unexpected Publicity

Aloha Kakou:

You never know where the Outrigger Maui Eldorado name is going to turn up. The link below is to "Doctor's Review", a Canadian website that "provides clinical, medical news and travel publications to physicians and their patients and maintains a variety of related websites."

The site provides our lowest rate, a brief description of the property and a link to Outrigger's website. What more could you ask for?

http://www.doctorsreview.com/node/887

New UA Nonstop ORD-OGG

Aloha Kakou:

Beginning June 9, United Airlines is adding a daily nonstop flight to Maui from Chicago O'Hare. Although currently scheduled to end on August 14, through our busy summer season, United may keep the flight on the schedule longer, depending upon demand.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/528827.html?nav=10

Email Blast

Aloha Kakou:

This email recently went out to over 70,000 previous Outrigger guests, many of whom previously stayed in our Waikiki properties. The idea is let these guests know about our condominiums and, hopefuly, get them thinking about an outer island vacation.

Outrigger Condo Collection T+L Magazine Ad

Aloha Kakou:

This ad, while not featuring the Outrigger Maui Eldorado, is another example of our current push to the direct consumer market. This unit is at the Outrigger Royal Kahana, by the way.

10-OUT-0165A_LR

Travel Agent Weekly Ad

Aloha Kakou:

This ad, which features a large photo of the Outrigger Maui Eldorado's J207, is scheduled to appear in Travel Agent Weekly in their March 29th edition.

10-OUT-0065A_LR

Honolulu Advertiser Mention

Aloha Kakou:

This brief mention of our grocery promotion appeared yesterday in a Honolulu Advertiser blog about how to get more for less.

http://onthecheap.honadvblogs.com/tag/vacation/

Occupancy, Revenue Down In '09

Aloha Kakou:

With an occupancy rate of 62.1% compared to 67.9%, and an ADR of $144 compared to $184, Maui hotel statistics were lower in 2009 than they were in 2008. Of course, drops in both occupancy and ADR mean RevPAR dropped in 2009, from $175 to $168.

Most of 2009's lower numbers occurred in the first 3 quarters of the year. The last quarter, while down, was not down as much. Could that mean, combined with our 1st quarter numbers, that we're on the rebound? It's too early for me to say; let's just take what we can get at this point!

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/528690.html?nav=10

Hawaii Hotels Lose Money In 2009

Aloha Kakou:

Hawaii hotels lost $741 million in 2009, with a total loss of $1.1 billion since 2008.

Yikes!

http://www.hotelsmag.com/lexisnexis/8148645-Hawaii_Hotels_Down_US_1_1b_Since_Slump_Began.php?nid=3457&source=link&rid=14377667

Units For Sale

Aloha Kakou:

Here's the latest list of units for sale at the Maui Eldorado. With prices ranging from $249,000 to $1,499,000, there's something for everyone!
Maui Eldorado 2661 Kekaa Drive Maui HI

New Lahaina Plantation Museum To Open

Aloha Kakou:

The Lahaina Restoration Foundation is on Friday opening a new museum dedicated to telling the tale of Maui's plantation life. The new museum is in the Wharf Cinema Center and admission is free.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/528553.html?nav=10

Sunsational Travel

Aloha Kakou:

Please click the link to see our listing on Sunsational Travel's website:

http://sunsationaltravel.net/vacations/ResortDetail.asp?PropertyID=61

Hotel Taxes & OTAs: The Next Round

Aloha Kakou:

A judge in California Monday ruled that Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are not hotels and therefore are not required to pay accommodations tax on the amount between their net rate and the rate to which they sell the room to the consumer.

There are many similar pending cases around the US as municipalities seek ways to help offset budget losses. Going after OTAs may seem like a natural to politicians in these municipalities as they believe they can gain additional income without having to raise the ire of their constituents by raising their taxes.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61109G20100202

New Condos With Owner Stay Limits

Aloha Kakou:

Certain new vacation condo developments are coming with restrictions on the length of stay for unit owners. These restrictions are based on shoreline access agreements or local zoning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/realestate/commercial/03condo.html?hpw

New Plans For The Sheraton

Aloha Kakou:

Kyo-ya, the Japanese company that owns the Sheraton Maui on Black Rock, has announced plans to begin a $500 million project to upgrade hotel rooms and to convert a portion of the property to 410 condominium units.

Construction could begin as soon as 2012.


http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2010_1st/Feb10_MauiSheraton.html


http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100201/BUSINESS02/2010310/Kyo-ya+adds+Maui+resort+to+upgrades

Yahoo! Travel Mentions Outrigger Maui Eldorado

Aloha Kakou:

The Budget Travel article about the 10 best budget resorts in the US, has been picked up by Yahoo! Travel and is on the web under their "Travel Guides" section.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-31283904