Kauai Visitor Traffic

[Kauai Kid]

June -23.5%
Jul -22.6%
According to the HI Dept of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

Drops like that haven't been seen since Hurricane Iniki


Sterling

 

[rickandcindy23]

Yes, Sterling, but Kauai generally doesn't want a lot of visitors to their island, so this might be celebrated by the natives. You should ask while you visit your Kauai church home, as I would be interested to know if they are enjoying the slowdown.

 

[Kauai Kid]

Yes, Sterling, but Kauai generally doesn't want a lot of visitors to their island, so this might be celebrated by the natives. You should ask while you visit your Kauai church home, as I would be interested to know if they are enjoying the slowdown.

They like have bills to pay just like the rest of us. Probably bigger, and since 90% of Hawaii's income is from tourists, I don't think it is good news for them. They don't want to end up like Maui that's for sure. I got the info from a friend in Hanalei so I'll ask him. He was an extra on the first South Pacific--the only good one.

Sterling, Poipu 10-24 Oct 08

 

[rickandcindy23]

We saw that play, and it was great. The food was the worst, but the play was excellent. My mother-in-law really loved it, even the food.

I know a lot of the locals make a living, but I would think that kind of drop wouldn't hurt much yet.

 

[auntdef]

We just returned from Kauai yesterday, that article was in the Garden Island newspaper (kauaiworld) on or about August 26/27.

I can state first hand that the timeshares are not suffering (yet) as both Marriott's were packed, but the restaurants with a few exceptions (Kintaro's and Duke's) were very quiet..... We also had no problem getting reservations just a day before at the Beach House (which we cxld) & Tidepools, in the past these needed to be made a couple of weeks in advance.

 

[Kauai Kid]

We saw that play, and it was great. The food was the worst, but the play was excellent. My mother-in-law really loved it, even the food.

I know a lot of the locals make a living, but I would think that kind of drop wouldn't hurt much yet.

I'm talking about the movie South Pacific staring Mitzy Gaynor. I saw the play on Kauai and concur--forget the food.

Sterling

 

[w.bob]

We just returned from Kauai yesterday, that article was in the Garden Island newspaper (kauaiworld) on or about August 26/27.

I can state first hand that the timeshares are not suffering (yet) as both Marriott's were packed, but the restaurants with a few exceptions (Kintaro's and Duke's) were very quiet..... We also had no problem getting reservations just a day before at the Beach House (which we cxld) & Tidepools, in the past these needed to be made a couple of weeks in advance.

http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2008/08/24/business/bus03.txt

 

[sdtugger]

We saw that play, and it was great. The food was the worst, but the play was excellent. My mother-in-law really loved it, even the food.

I know a lot of the locals make a living, but I would think that kind of drop wouldn't hurt much yet.

A 22-23% drop in visitors could easily send many businesses into bankruptcy or closure. At the very least, business owners will downsize to serve the new level of business. As a result, many will lose jobs and they will not be buying anything. The cycle is pretty vicious once it starts. This is a huge problem for an economy based on tourism.

Ask yourself this question: What would happen in your community if 25% of the income disappeared almost overnight?

In my opinion, the economy is slightly to blame, but the real problem is the doubling and tripling of airfares. What HI needs to do is create enough incentives to bring new carriers to the islands that would compete for travelers and bring the airfare down to more typical levels. There is just way too much competition for travelers in Mexico and the Carribbean for HI to succeed with uncompetitive airfares.

We are not alone in cancelling one of our trips next year . . .