hockeyinsider

Hmm:

Hawaii visitor spending, hotel occupancy down in January [March 2019]

Hawaii Tourism: Hawaii hotels’ occupancy, revenue down in February 2019 [March 2019]

A troubling slide for hotels [March 2019]

Hawaii Tourism Authority: Visitor spending down compared to a year ago [November 2018]

rickg523

​​​​​​Easy to see how both posts can be true.

mahasamatman

Read the thread title. That's exactly what this thread is about. (Though one could argue that the thread title is inaccurate and misleading.)

HNLbasedFlyer

We aren't even in high season. Unlike Florida - high season is June, July, August - airfare is down in some markets with Southwest now here. We are in Spring Break mode right now. Quite frankly, in my opinion, nearly 10 million tourists per year is overcapacity and does not make for a good visitor experience - nobody I know thinks that is a good number, Oahu with the most visitors is a 40x20 mile island - with most visitors in Waikiki. It is quite frankly, too many people.

Anyway - resort fees have not made a dent in the Hawaii tourist industry. 2012 was the first year new records were set - 8,028,744 visitors - so, 2018 was the 7th straight year of record tourism. 9,827,132 visited in 2019. Probably 7,500,000 is a healthy number.

Regardless - more visitors came to Hawaii in Feb 2019 vs Feb 2018 - they are gravitating to Airbnb - a different issue which residents are not happy about. Feb 2019 visitors 766,293 vs Feb 2018 764,043 - tourism is not down.

Cledaybuck

MSPeconomist

HNLbasedFlyer

No. It is nearly 100% illegal outside of Waikiki to rent a Airbnb us residents are trying hard to stop this illegal practice. Where I live in Kailua which is rampant (all illegal) - you pay way more for a Airbnb than a hotel. People who get Airbnb for the most part, in my opinion, nearly 100% are not resort fee shoppers. It is illegal rentals from mainland investors.

I urge ethical people to not do illegal airbnb rentals in Hawaii

DFWsakp

Why are you guys against renting our own homes?
It is beyond me as to why people poke their noses in other people's business.
Go Airbnb !!

pinniped

We may get way OT here, but if a government tried to completely ban Airbnb, I think I'd actually be *more* tempted to use it as active resistance to that kind of policy - even though I'm not a fan of Airbnb (the company itself) and believe that major homeshare platforms should have some degree of reasonable regulation.

It's unlikely that a resort fee by itself is going to turn a likely hotel user into an Airbnb user. But it does add to a list of anticonsumer practices that hotels are perpetuating - on top of other fees, much tighter cancellation rules, mergers of chains, deteriorating award programs, etc. I can see where over time that adds up and causes people to look at other options.

Cledaybuck

That seems unlikely as AirBnB and VRBO have plenty of fees tacked on too. People are moving there because you can often get more for the same or lower total price than a hotel.

HNLbasedFlyer

Most AirBnB aren't even owned by local Hawaii residents - hence, they drive up rent for local residents for an already expensive locality. It also hurts the economy as taxes are not collected.

davidsc111

I always find it interesting to see how many people would prefer to use the power of government to change the free market just because they don't like something. If you don't like resort fee's spend your money at properties that don't charge them... The last thing we need is some law telling hotels, or airlines, or whatever how they must bundle all potential charges into one price. I agree it would make searching a little easier but I've never once booked a room without seeing the charge ahead of time. IME the fees are always disclosed. I've never booked a flight without seeing the "bag fee" pricing schedule either. Even a modicum of common sense and attention to detail would prevent a person from getting taken advantage of. I certainly don't like them, especially on vacation but I would prefer government be used sparingly and for issues that really matter.

pinniped

It's not about bundling vs. unbundling. In this case, it's about a hidden mandatory fee that is *never* disclosed in the original search results, even though the guest must pay it. "Unbundling" is a sort of sneaky term in many industries to refer to taking things away in hopes that people will pay more for less product/service, but where it's disclosed and the options are clear, including the option to buy the most barebones thing (like a Spirit ticket), no one is suggesting it be outlawed.

If you showed up at the airport and the gate agent refused to let you board until you paid a $50 fee for a bag, when you have no bag, would you be okay with that?

Nobody's suggesting that hotels shouldn't add extra amenities and then charge the guests who use them. But preventing unethical corporations from ripping people off is among the more important services that governments should provide.

rickg523

Perhaps the answer is to control non resident ownership. But the unintended consequences may outweigh the benefits.
Btw, I think choosing an ST rental vs a hotel has almost everything to do with how much how many hotel rooms cost for how many days vs. a house.
Resorr fees only factor into this if people are calculating these fees into their comparison. But are they?

davidsc111

Like I said earlier...it would be easier if they were disclosed in the original search but they are disclosed. I'd love to see these fee's go away I just don't see a case for govt intervention.

Your airline example is not comparative because the fees are disclosed. If the airlines charged a $50 bag fee whether you had a bag or not and the fee was disclosed... again, I wouldn't like it but I wouldn't think govt intervention was warranted.

The real power is in a consumer moving business toward or away from policies, companies, etc you like or dislike. Dummy proofing the planet will create more dummies...not less. Too many people already rely on others (government, consumer protection bureau's, Flyertalk, Yelp, etc...) to perform common sense checks of whether or not to use or buy a certain product or service. This lack of personal ownership is what opens the door to more sophisticated scams and frauds.