D E S TIN A TIO N S
At Koloa Landing, a building under construction will add 12 or 13 villas to the resort.
in revenue per available room
(RevPAR), seeing it surge 17.2%,
to $129.36 a night, according to
a year-end report by Hospitality
Advisors.
“We’re seeing a recovery across
the state, but we see Kauai coming back a bit faster because they
have newer inventory,” explained
Joseph Toy, Hospitality Advisors’
president and CEO, citing recent
renovations at the Sheraton Kauai Resort, the Grand Hyatt Kauai
and the Kauai Marriott Resort.
“And then there’s the St. Regis
Princeville, which opened during
the downturn and is in some re-
spects still there to be discovered,”
Toy added. “So in essence, we’ve
got some new products there that
have been completed and are able
to ride the tide of the recovery.”
noting the property is offering
a 20% discount on rooms over-
looking the building site.
A room at Koloa Landing at Poipu Beach Wyndham Grand Resort.
By Shane Nelson
Kauai edged out both Oahu and Maui in visitor spending and arrivals growth for 2011, driving the Aloha State to its best 12-month performance
since 2007.
KAUAI ▼
H
A WA I I
UPDATE
“We’ve turned a corner, and I
really do think things are moving
in the right direction,” said Sue
Kanoho, executive director for the
Kauai Visitors Bureau.
The Garden Isle welcomed
more than 1 million visitors last
year, an increase of 6.3% over
2010’s total, and saw visitor
spending jump 18.9%, to $1.3 billion, Kanoho said.
Kauai hotels also enjoyed the
largest percentage increase in
occupancy statewide, finishing
the year up 4. 2 points, to 63.5%,
while Garden Isle properties post-ed the destination’s biggest gains
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New kid on the block
Business has been solid at Kauai’s newest property, the 85-unit
Koloa Landing at Poipu Beach
Wyndham Grand Resort, which
opened on the island’s south
shore in December 2010.
“Since June 15 last year, we’ve
not dipped below 70%,” said Jef-
fery Zogg, acting general man-
ager at Koloa Landing and vice
president for the Azul Hospitality
Group, the property’s manage-
ment company. “And we did re-
ally well over October and No-
vember, which traditionally [is]
a softer shoulder period. We saw
80% occupancy during those two
months and sold out over the
holidays and then had a record-
breaking February.”
Koloa Landing features
one-, two- and three-bed-
room condominium villas
outfitted with washers and
dryers, multiple bathrooms
and cleverly designed
sliding-glass doors that en-
able guests to completely
open much of the living
space to the outdoors.
“The biggest segment
that we’ve attracted has
been families,” Zogg said.
“And we’ve done really, really well
with multiple couples. Most of
our units sleep six to eight people,
so we’re really a great fit for folks
traveling together.”
Already home to a pair of
Poipu’s nicest pools, the property
recently began work on an addi-
tional building that will include
another 12 to 13 villas, a new fit-
ness center and an in-house spa
featuring six treatment rooms.
Zogg expects the project to fin-
ish up early next year and said the
construction’s impact on the rest
of the resort has been minimal,
Hollywood lends a hand
Both Zogg and Kanoho said
Kauai’s visitor industry benefited
substantially from positive press
last year, including an unusual
amount of media focus surrounding several films shot on
the Garden Isle.
“I think the movies helped a
lot,” Kanoho explained. “Having
four major feature films come
and shoot was huge as far as the
economic benefit in the moment,
and then the benefit that comes
after with the marketing of the
movies, their releases and even
the DVD releases.”
Kanoho thinks the success of
Fox Searchlight’s Oscar-winning
“The Descendants,” in which
George Clooney plays a Hawaii
land baron trying to reconnect
with his daughters, might be the
most valuable to Kauai because
the destination plays a starring
role.
“So many times we’re some-
place else,” she said. “We’re the
Philippines, Vietnam or some
other tropical destination. Rarely
are we ourselves, and that’s what
we were in ‘The Descendants.’
This is one of those times that it
was spelled out: This is Kauai.”
The Kauai Visitors Bureau sur-
The lobby bar at Koloa Landing.
veys travelers about the impact
films have on their decision to
visit the island, and the organization is now tracking “The Descendants” because of the many
inquiries the bureau received
in recent months regarding the
movie’s Garden Isle locations.
According to Kanoho, 20% of
those surveyed under age 50 said
movies influenced their decision
to visit Kauai in 2011, mention-
ing films such as “Pirates of the
Caribbean,” “South Pacific” and
even “Jurassic Park.”
Visit www.gohawaii.com/kauai.
