Hawaii Vacation Rental Performance Report for March 2021

In March 2021, the total monthly supply of statewide vacation rentals was 587,300 unit nights (-32.6%) and monthly demand was 365,700 unit nights (-34.4%). That resulted in an average monthly unit occupancy of 62.3 percent (-1.7 percentage points) (Figure 1) for March, which was nearly 20 percent higher than the occupancy of Hawaii’s hotels (43.1%).

The unit average daily rate (ADR) for vacation rental units statewide in March was $248 (+3.6%), which was less than the ADR for hotels ($285). It is important to note that unlike hotels, condominium hotels, timeshare resorts and vacation rental units are not necessarily available year-round or each day of the month and often accommodate a larger number of guests than traditional hotel rooms.

During March, most passengers arriving from out-of-state and traveling inter-county could bypass the State’s mandatory 10-day self-quarantine with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a Trusted Testing Partner through the state’s Safe Travels program. All trans-Pacific travelers participating in the pre-travel testing program were required to have a negative test result before their departure to Hawaii. Kauai County continued to temporarily suspend its participation in the state’s Safe Travels program, making it mandatory for all trans-Pacific travelers to Kauai to quarantine upon arrival except for those participating in a pre- and post-travel testing program at a “resort bubble” property as a way to shorten their time in quarantine. The counties of Hawaii, Maui and Kalawao (Molokai) also had a partial quarantine in place in March.

In March, legal short-term rentals were allowed to operate in Maui County and on Oahu, Hawaii Island and Kauai as long as they were not being used as a quarantine location.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Tourism Research Division issued the report’s findings utilizing data compiled by Transparent Intelligence, Inc. The data in this report specifically excludes units reported in HTA’s Hawaii Hotel Performance Report and Hawaii Timeshare Quarterly Survey Report. In this report, a vacation rental is defined as the use of a rental house, condominium unit, private room in private home, or shared room/space in private home. This report also does not determine or differentiate between units that are permitted or unpermitted. The “legality” of any given vacation rental unit is determined on a county basis.

Island Highlights

In March, Maui County had the largest vacation rental supply of all four counties with 237,700 available unit nights (-17.2%) and unit demand was 160,800 unit nights (-19.6%), resulting in 67.6 percent occupancy (-2.0 percentage points) with an ADR of $282 (-6.4%). Maui County hotels reported ADR at $466 and occupancy of 49.0 percent.

O‘ahu vacation rental supply was 132,500 available unit nights (-46.2%) in March. Unit demand was 89,200 unit nights (-37.7%), resulting in 67.3 percent occupancy (+9.2 percentage points) and an ADR of $198 (+12.4%). O‘ahu hotels reported ADR at $184 and occupancy of 40.4 percent.

The Island of Hawai‘i vacation rental supply was 126,400 available unit nights (-37.7%) in March. Unit demand was 88,900 unit nights (-33.5%), resulting in 70.3 percent occupancy (+4.5 percentage points) with an ADR of $220 (+20.1%). Hawai‘i Island hotels reported ADR at $317 and occupancy of 49.6 percent.

Kaua‘i had the fewest number of available unit nights in March at 90,600 (-33.0%). Unit demand was 26,800 unit nights (-66.8%), resulting in 29.6 percent occupancy (-30.0 percentage points) with an ADR of $307 (+4.9%). Kaua‘i hotels reported ADR at $200 and occupancy of 30.9 percent.

Tables of vacation rental performance statistics, including data presented in the report are available for viewing online at: https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/research/infrastructure-research/

About the Hawaii Vacation Rental Performance Report

The Hawaii Vacation Rental Performance Report is produced using data compiled by Transparent Intelligence, Inc., which was selected by the Hawaii Tourism Authority as the provider for these data services.
The report includes data for properties that are listed on Airbnb, Booking.com, HomeAway and TripAdvisor. Data for units included in HTA’s Hawaii Hotel Performance Report and Hawaii Timeshare Quarterly Report have been excluded from the Hawaii Vacation Rental Performance Report. This report also does not determine or differentiate between units that are permitted or unpermitted. The “legality” of any given vacation rental unit is determined on a county basis. HTA does not support illegal vacation rentals.

For March 2021, the report included data for 25,720 units, representing 44,505 bedrooms in the Hawaiian Islands.