Tourism officials in Hawaii are contemplating the impact of holiday rentals in response to data showing hotels have lost market share in the island state, despite visitor numbers growing steadily. The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) has commissioned two reports on the impact of alternative accommodation and circulated the results for public review.
“Alternative accommodations, particularly rentals of homes and condos by visitors, has been a segment of Hawaii’s tourism industry for more than 20 years, but has grown significantly in recent years due to increased demand by travellers,” said HTA’S Daniel Nahoopii.
“Spending by these visitors generated an estimated $1.87 billion for Hawaii’s economy in 2016,” he said.
“It’s noteworthy that 15% of visitors said they would not travel to Hawaii if alternative accommodations were not available.”
The research found the current market share of visitors staying in Hawaii hotels has decreased 6% since 2000, while total visitor arrivals increased 23% over the same period.
Between 5% and 9% percent of Hawaii residents currently rent out their properties for holidays, the HTA found, however most of those surveyed said they did not want to continue the practice. Of residents surveyed, 60% were motivated by financial necessity to offer their residences to visitors.
