Superferry Delays Delivery of Second Ship

Aloha Kakou:

Hawaii Superferry today announced that, due to economic conditions, they are delaying the delivery of their second ship for about a year.

The new ship, which was to start service to Hawaii Island in May, 2009, is almost completed and will perhaps be leased to another ferry operator or to the military in the interim.

Service between Maui and Oahu will continue as scheduled.

The delay in implementing the new ship is expected to save the company about $10 million.

http://hawaiisuperferry.com/about-us/newsroom/press/2008/postpone-second-ship.html

Rate And Occupancy

Aloha Kakou:

This chart from the Honolulu Advertiser shows hotel occupancy and rate by island.

Most notable is how Maui, which usually is the tops in occupancy, is just a few percentage points higher the Hawaii Island. Interestingly, while Maui's occupancy is lower, the island's ADR is the highest among the islands.

Keep in mind that these occupancy levels include not only condos and hotels, but also timeshares. Timeshare properties continue to have high occupancy due to the nature of their ownership; these owners have paid their timeshare mortgage and maintenance costs all year in anticipation of their one week in paradise. The increase in the airfare may bother many of these people, but not enough so as to cancel their vacation plans.

The View From Here

Aloha Kakou:

I met with Kim Rogers today, who is the editor for our new outriggerhawaii.com website.

You really should take a minute to visit this new site if you haven't already. It approaches the potential guests in a more experiential way, very much in the way guests asked questions when I answered the phone in my days in Denver Reservations.

Kim was visiting us to get a better idea of how she should approach the Outrigger Maui Eldorado's presence on the site. She asked many good questions about who are our guests and, in many ways, who we are as a property. And we talked about ways to enhance our marketing efforts through our existing electronic channels.

Kim writes her own blog about Hawaii, which you can see here: http://outriggerhawaii.com/view_from_here.aspx. You'll probably want to add it to your favorite blogs; I have. If you forget the address, I've added a link under Other Places You Might Enjoy, just to the right on this page.

Yes, It's Really Called "Urinetown"

Aloha Kakou:

If you're here for any of the next four weekends, you may want to take in MAPA's performance of the musical Urinetown, which opens tomorrow night, October 24, at the Stepping Stone Playhouse in the Kaahumanu Mall. Here's the article from the Maui News: http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/510152.html?nav=5015

Forgetting the imperfect title, the winner of three Tony Awards, “Urinetown: The Musical” is one of the funniest musicals in recent years. It is a hilarious tale of greed, corruption, revolution and love in a time when water is worth its weight in gold and not all the leaders are completely forthright. For Maui, this story sounds all too familiar. In fact, I'd be checking to make sure our County Councilors are barred at the door so they don't get any ideas!

While the title and subject matter may seem unseemly, it actually is a very funny show. And, since I live with the band director and pianist, I can tell you first hand that the music is lively and enjoyable.

Friday, October 24 - 7:30 pm

Saturday, October 25 - 7:30 pm (Group night, not available)

Sunday, October 26 - 2:00 pm (Bargain Matinee)

Friday, October 31 - 7:30 pm

Saturday, November 1 - 7:30 pm

Sunday, November 2 - 2:00 pm (Matinee)

Friday, November 7 - 7:30 pm

Saturday, November 8 - 7:30 pm

Sunday, November 9 - 2:00 pm (Matinee)

Ticket prices are $25 Fridays & Saturdays - Center, $22 Fridays & Saturdays - Side, $18 Sunday, October 26, $21 Sunday, November 2, 9

Advance tickets: call 875-4367 or buy in person at the Queen Ka’ahumanu Center Customer Service Desk

Additional Flights From Canada

Aloha Kakou:

WestJet Airlines, the Canadian airline, is increasing the number of flights from Vancouver to Hawaii by a factor of 3.

The airline currently has seven flights a week and is planning on increasing that frequency to 23 flights a week, starting November 1, including one flight a day to Kahului (OGG).

The recent strength of the Canadian dollar has boosted that country's buying power. Canadians spend about $150 per day and, while that may seem low, their average length of stay is a whopping 12.3 days, compared to the approximately seven days for mainland US visitors.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081022/BUSINESS03/810220363/1071
http://www.starbulletin.com/business/20081022_WestJet_to_increase_Hawaii_flights.html

Good News About The Far East From The Other Far East

Aloha Kakou:

President Bush has decided to lift the visa requirements for a number of allied countries. Most notably for Hawaii, the affected country is South Korea.

Even with a visa process described as "arduous", approximately 40,000 South Koreans visited Hawaii last year. Most visitors stayed on Oahu, with about 14,000 venturing to Maui.

Tourism officials expect that, once the visa restrictions are lifted probably sometime in January, 2009, the annual South Korean visitor count will double each year for two years.

While not entirely replacing the now-gone, once seemingly omnipresent Japanese visitors, the South Korean visitors should help to given Hawaii tourism a much needed boost.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/509929.html
http://www.starbulletin.com/business/businessnews/20081017_Isle_officials_pleased_with_plans_to_ease_travel_rules.html

Best Island In The World

Aloha Kakou:

You already know that Maui is the best island in the world.

For the fourteenth time, Conde Nast Traveler magazines Reader Choice awards seconded your vote.

"We are extremely proud to receive this honor yet again," said Terryl Vencl, Maui Visitor's Bureau executive director. "Maui's stunning natural beauty, our cherished host culture and the gracious aloha of our people continue to make this possible. This is wonderful recognition for our industry and most importantly, for the residents of Maui."

The awards will be published in the November edition, which will be available later this month.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/509878.html?nav=10