Travel Weekly reports that Hawaii hotel occupancy dropped to 60.2 percent for the week ending Oct. 4. As you may or may not know, hotels need about 50 percent occupancy to break even. No fear, though – Hawaii is now getting aggressive! They’ve launched a special website, because they’ve been hearing so much about how the webnets are our future.
The site is junk. A lot of smoke and mirrors. Air credits, companion fares and lots of after-the-fact uselessness. Seriously, for the last time: Just point us to the cheap airfares and discounted hotel rates, and we’re there.
Example – The lead item on this webpagenetsitething is for some small tour company you may or may not have heard of. Their come-on: “Free! Free! Free! Free nights, Breakfast, Upgrade & Waiver.” Exciting! I click through to an anonymous booking engine and an (800) number to call, on a web page that a third-grader could have designed, no offense to third graders.
Look, geniuses, I’m not booking with a company I have never heard of through some anonymous, weird looking booking engine, taking their word for it that these bargains are being offered “at 2007 prices!” Really? You mean, one of the busiest years for travel in ages, when everything was so expensive?
There’s lots more fun, if you feel like logging on. Example – the discounter that took second place on the site when I logged on is offering smashing low-season/fall deals like seventh night free at Oahu’s Turtle Bay (pictured above in all its glory – klasseh!) when you book a package that starts at more than $1,500/pp from LAX. That’s more than $3,000 for a couple, for dead periods, with midweek travel. Again: Really? If you’ve ever been to Turtle Bay, you may agree with me when I say that 1 night is sufficient. Nice location, shame about the resort, which even the state thinks might be better as open space (they tried to buy it, not too long ago.)
Look for things to get worse before they get better, and look for me to continue to say that it’s all Hawaii’s freaking fault. I’ve said this before, but the sooner the people of Hawaii revolt against the leaders of their tourism industry, the better – their livelihoods depend on it.
