Even though vacation rentals outpaced hotel occupancy in November, numbers are still low, according to the latest data released last week by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
According to HTA’s monthly Hawaii Vacation Rental Performance Report, vacation rentals throughout the state were just under 32% occupied last month, but Maui County’s figures dropped even lower than that. For comparison, rental units were 69% occupied across the state in November of 2019. The occupancy rate reflects a unit supply of more than 555,000 unit nights (down 35%) and a demand of more than 175,400 unit nights (down 70%).
Vacation rentals in all four counties experienced significant declines in key metrics, with Maui County seeing the largest decline in occupancy (down 47 percentage points) — and the lowest overall occupancy rate (29%). Oahu, meanwhile, saw the largest declines in unit supply (down 49%) and demand (down 74%). Despite those drops, however, Oahu still maintained the second-highest levels of both supply and demand, behind Maui County in both categories.
The average daily rate, or ADR, for vacation rentals fell by 24% to $230. That’s the same as the ADR for hotels during November.
Hotels statewide were 19% occupied in November, with a demand of 307,600 room nights (down 76%) and a supply of 1.4 million room nights (down 14%).
The report defines vacation rentals as “the use of a rental house, condominium unit, private room in private home, or shared room/space in private home,” but does not differentiate between permitted and unpermitted properties. The report utilizes data compiled by Transparent Intelligence, Inc. and is based on properties that are listed on Airbnb, Booking.com, HomeAway and TripAdvisor. This month’s report includes data for 24,955 units and 43,150 bedrooms.
Like hotels, vacation rentals have been impacted by a drop in demand for travel amid Covid-19. Vacation rentals also have faced restrictions during the pandemic, with rules varying by island. Legal short-term vacation rentals were allowed to resume operations on Oahu starting in October, when the island moved into Tier 2. Legal short-term rentals were permitted on Maui during November. They were also allowed to operate on Hawaii Island and Kauai, but could not be used as a quarantine location.
Year-to-date, unit supply statewide was down 41% and unit demand fell by 66%, resulting in an occupancy rate of 43%, a 42 percentage point drop compared to the same period last year. ADR year-to-date fell 18% to $237.
