Summer is Here!

The advent of summer is always marked by the arrival of the Memorial Day weekend, graduation ceremonies and crowds at the airports. This year is no exception. The airlines experienced an 85% load factor over the three-day holiday. I have attended my share of graduation ceremonies and have followed with interest the current debate in Congress over a “passenger bill of rights” as a way to mitigate travelers’ woes. As always, events elsewhere are shaping the visitor industry in Hawaii.

After a jump in Visitor Days in Hawaii during the first quarter, the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) noted a 2.9% fall in that number for April 1999, as compared to the previous year. The 2.3% drop in westbound travelers was particularly disturbing.

April hotel occupancy took a 2.8% hit, dropping to 69%, as compared to 71% the year before. April occupancy in Waikiki was down over 4%. It looks like the numbers for May will follow the pattern set in April, but I feel that June, July and August will be strong months for Hawaii.

There is a lot of good news, too. United Airlines is adding seats on Hawaii routes for the summer. After three rounds of recent price increases, United is also cutting summer domestic leisure fares by up to 25%, and although the discounts do not apply to over-water travel, they will certainly help some visitors from the mid-west and east coast get to our properties. Hawaii is rated the fifth most popular state destination in the U.S., after Florida, California, Nevada and New York, according to a survey by the American Society of Travel Agents. Honolulu made it into the list of the top ten “hot spots” for travel this summer on the same survey.

There is also encouraging news from Asia. Singapore became a “visa waiver country” and its citizens may enter the U.S. for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa in advance. The yen is starting to recover strength against the U.S. dollar, and Japanese are beginning to travel overseas again. Although currently they are primarily visiting Asian destinations, I am confident that the Japanese will return their attention to Hawaii and our new property in Guam in the near future.

Summer travel means special challenges for hotel workers. Occupancies suddenly jump from the lows of April and May. Sometimes guests do some crazy things as they find themselves wandering around in an exciting, exotic place for the first time in their lives. There can be unexpected crises, sunburn, lost luggage, theft and health problems. Guests expect that everyone on our staff is fully prepared to handle it all.

I think we should always be aware of how our guests view the world. They are in a strange location, their biological clocks are off by three, six or more hours and they have often endured significant difficulties just getting to Hawaii. What they want and need is a warm reception starting the moment they arrive at the door of an Outrigger hotel, a seamless check-in and a room that awaits them with no defects. Their experience during those first five or ten minutes will set the tone for a guest’s entire visit to one of our properties.

In the style of a graduation speech, I might wish the members of our ‘ohana “good luck” as they go forth during the summer season, but I have a better idea. As Robin Williams, playing teacher-extraordinaire John Keating in the film Dead Poets Society, said, “Carpe diem.” Seize the day! Let’s make our own luck during the next three challenging months.