Aloha {{first name |}}!
Welcome to the latest edition of the Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui Insider.
Hotels in the continental US had a great summer, with the big brands raising their outlooks on stronger occupancy and rates. Hawaiʻi, not so much. This issue digs into why, as well as Alaska’s “forever” commitment to Hawaiian, which lasted about four days, and the Green Fee’s first report card.
We are also diving into how Airbnb and Vrbo are pushing hosts to act a lot more like hotels, and the platforms themselves are looking a lot more like traditional OTAs. Why most AI optimization packages aren’t worth the money, and a familiar name behind a new Big Island hotel project. Plus plenty more.
It’s the first Tuesday of the month, which means the HHH monthly report is locked and loaded. Click below to sound like the smartest person in your next meeting. 😉
Not already a subscriber? Join the Hui and get the signal sent straight to you; it's free. Already subscribed? Forward this to someone in Hawaiʻi hospitality who should be reading it.
Want to reach Hawaiʻi's hotel and tourism leadership? Our readers are decision-makers at properties, management companies, ownership, and brands, and travel and tourism companies across the islands. Sponsorship inquiries: [email protected]
Mahalo for reading, and as always, thank you for being part of the Hui.
Lots to unpack. Let’s dive in.
Mahalo,
Dan Wacksman
Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui Insider Editor-in-Chief 😄
Long on the Hawaiian Brand. Flat on Hawaiʻi.
Alaska Air Group’s Q3 revenue rose 14% to $4.3 billion on just 2.4% more capacity... and the company still lost money. Fuel did most of the damage, but Hawaiʻi made the list too. On the earnings call, Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Harrison called Hawaiʻi a two-point headwind for the whole system, with negative unit revenue in both Q2 and Q3. That comment didn’t land well here at home. Locally, Hawaiian Airlines CEO Diana Birkett Rakow pointed to fuel, a soft market, and a rough weather year.
Then came the reassurance tour. On Oct. 26 in Honolulu, Alaska President Shane Tackett said Hawaiʻi is about a third of company revenue, and the commitment to Hawaiian is forever, backed by $600 million over five years for a new HNL lounge and upgraded A330 cabins. Exhibit A for “growing the brand” is new Seattle nonstops to Osaka and Papeete on Hawaiian A330s, markets Hawaiian built from Honolulu decades ago. The Hawaiʻi schedule stays flat.
Four days later, Alaska announced it’s cutting about 200 management jobs, 46 of them in Hawaiʻi, after CEO Ben Minicucci warned it could lose up to $700 million this year. The company says the cuts aren’t merger-related. Fair enough. But “forever” had a pretty short news cycle.
Meanwhile, HTA just told legislators that restoring Melbourne nonstops is a priority. That’s the same route Qantas launched in 2025 and pulled this January. Hawaiian hasn’t brought back Brisbane either. For hoteliers counting on an international rebound, watch where the next widebody goes, not the speeches. 😉
Want to dive deeper? PBN on Alaska’s Q3 | Committed | Layoffs
Green Fee, Round Two
We’ve been following the Green Fee since it passed last year, and hotel guests have been paying it since January (TAT went from 10.25% to 11%). Here’s where things stand.
Round one is funded, with edits. The advisory council recommended 75 projects worth $126.4 million. The Legislature passed about 90 projects worth $129 million, but only about 60% came from the council’s list. Lawmakers cut $7.6 million for community-led stewardship and added $350,000 for an HTA sports and events study. Funny how tourism marketing couldn’t get its own funding bill but found its way into the Green Fee. The council chair later said about half the projects lawmakers added aren’t aligned with the program’s intent. Who could have seen that coming?
The beaches got some love and some cuts. Ala Moana just got $7.4 million for new sand, a project permitted but unfunded since 2021. Statewide beach restoration was cut from $15 million to $8 million, and Kāʻanapali from $4 million to $1 million. That’s a strange place to trim when beaches are so important for visitors and locals alike. As of last week, 62 projects worth about $93.6 million had been approved for release.
Round two is underway. After more than $2 billion in requests last time for roughly $100 million a year, the council says it will favor shovel-ready projects. That happens to be the exact argument senators used to swap out the council’s picks last session.
Back in May, we called the Legislature’s rewrite a sleight of hand and worried the Green Fee could follow the original TAT from dedicated fund to general spending. Round one didn’t prove us wrong. If the council’s list gets rewritten again, “dedicated” starts looking optional. Hotels collect this money every night, so it’s worth watching where it lands.
Want to dive deeper? Aloha State Daily on round two | Star-Advertiser on the round one overhaul | Aloha State Daily on Ala Moana sand
What Do Rockefeller, Parker Ranch, and Jerry Gibson Have in Common?
Normally, a 10-room hotel renovation wouldn't get much attention from us. But when we saw Jerry Gibson's name attached, our ears perked up.
Jerry, who has run some of Hawaiʻi's largest hotels and hotel groups, recently launched Hawaiʻi Hospitality Group with Elliot Mills and is now teaming up with developer Stanford Carr and Parker Ranch to transform Waimea's historic Jacaranda Inn into a Parker Ranch-branded boutique hotel.
The estate was once home to Parker Ranch manager A.W. Carter and later served as a private retreat for Laurance Rockefeller, the billionaire conservationist and developer behind the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, and yes, grandson of John D. The billionaire, and now trillionaire, class has always seemed to love the islands.
And while the original Jacaranda Inn had just 10 rooms, Jerry tells us the new project is planned with more guest rooms, a large restaurant, a wedding chapel, and plenty of activities. They intend to preserve the property's historic character and protect Manaua, the sacred rain rock on the site. The project is still in the early planning stages, with no construction expected for at least another year.
Fun fact: It was Jerry who encouraged me to launch Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui. So if you enjoy this newsletter, you can thank him. If you don't, you know who to blame. 😉
Sleeping in a Mall Parking Lot
We previously reported on delays surrounding the proposed 1588 Ala Moana development, but it has now cleared a major hurdle.
The Honolulu City Council has approved conceptual plans to replace the Macy's parking structure with a 38-story hotel tower featuring nearly 300 rooms and a 17-story residential tower. No construction or opening date has been announced. So you can still park your car in a spot that might soon be a $3,000 room suite, for free (unless the mall cop sees you sneaking into The Ala Moana Hotel).
Checking In
Prince Waikiki has a new GM. Tony Lytle took over on Oct. 26, joining from The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, where he was hotel manager. It’s the second big move at Prince this month, after Yusuke Ishii stepped in as president of Prince Resorts Hawaiʻi. New boss, new GM... we’ll be watching what comes next.
Meghan Lee moves from sales to operations as resort manager at OUTRIGGER Kāʻanapali Beach Resort, reporting to GM Edwin Torres. Commercial leaders crossing into operations is still less common than it should be. Congrats, Meghan!
Joey Woofter took over as managing director of The Laylow Waikīkī in August, joining from The Ritz-Carlton Oʻahu, Turtle Bay, where he was resort manager. We’re a little late on this one... sorry about that, Joey!
Congrats to all, and good luck in your new roles!
Hotel Performance
Quick Summary (So You Sound Smart in Meetings)
Statewide RevPAR rose 3.3% to $226.39 in September, and almost all of it came from rate. ADR climbed 3.2% to $324.84 while occupancy barely moved (69.7%, up 0.1 points). Year to date, RevPAR is up 3.8% to $280.08.
Maui led the state. RevPAR jumped 21.2% to $305.00 on a 7.6-point occupancy gain, with Wailea up 28.5%. Occupancy is now back above September 2022’s pre-fire level, but RevPAR is still about 13% short of the $350 Maui posted that month. The heads are back. The rate isn’t.
Hurricane Lowell knocked Kauaʻi out for the month. Occupancy fell 26.9 points to 47.2% and RevPAR dropped 43.0% to $161.99, the steepest decline in the state.
Oʻahu RevPAR rose 3.2% to $201.31. Waikīkī lagged at +1.8%, while the rest of Oʻahu jumped 8.5%.
Hawaiʻi Island RevPAR rose 10.4%, led by the Kohala Coast at +16.6%.
Click here to sound REALLY smart in your next meeting and download the HHH Market Performance Report.
*Hotel performance data will be published in the first issue of each month.
Q3 Brand Report Card: The Brands Are Busy. Hawaiʻi Is Just Expensive.
Brand | Q3 RevPAR (Global) | Q3 RevPAR (U.S.) | Outlook | Worth noting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hilton | +5.8% | +7.0% | Raised to 4% to 4.5% for the year | Upfront cash to sign owners jumped to $78M from $31M |
Hyatt | +7.2% | +8.2% | 5% to 5.5% for the year | All-inclusive RevPAR fell 2.5% on softer Mexico demand |
IHG | +5.3% | +6.9% | On track for the year | U.S. occupancy hit 73.9%, highest since 2017 |
Marriott | +6.5% | +7.4%* | Raised to 4.5% to 5% for the year | Development pipeline hit a record 634,000+ rooms |
Wyndham | +2% | +6% | Raised for the year | Expects Q4 U.S. to hold Q3’s pace |
*U.S. & Canada
Here’s what jumps out. The brands grew everywhere, but the U.S. led, and it grew on both rate and occupancy. Hawaiʻi’s September RevPAR rose about 3% with occupancy flat, so almost all of it was rate, and even our rate growth trailed the continent. To be fair, Hilton credits the World Cup and holiday timing for part of the lift. Even so, the national demand picture says Hawaiʻi’s softness is a Hawaiʻi problem, not an industry one.
Meanwhile, Hilton paid 2.5x more upfront to sign hotels than a year ago, and Marriott posted a record pipeline in the same quarter it confirmed corporate job cuts.
Want to dive deeper? Hilton Q3 | Hyatt Q3 | IHG Q3 | Marriott Q3 | Wyndham Q3
Vacation Rentals Get the Hotel Treatment
It's been a busy month for the vacation rental giants, especially Airbnb. From higher commissions and tighter control of guest relationships to new distribution deals, there's plenty happening.
Vrbo raised host commissions to 12% on Oct. 29, more than double what some hosts were paying, with 30 days' notice. That's still below Airbnb, which dropped guest fees late last year and moved hosts to commissions of around 15.5%.
Airbnb's new house rules start Nov. 20. Hosts generally can't ask guests to wash dishes, strip beds, or haul trash. They can't require separate rental agreements or keep copies of guest IDs.
Airbnb is also hiding phone numbers. Hosts connected through property management software get temporary phone numbers for guests that expire two days after checkout. Airbnb says it's about privacy. Property managers say it's about making sure the guest never books direct.
Airbnb has moved into Amex Travel. More than 1 million Airbnb listings are now available through American Express Travel, making Airbnb its exclusive vacation rental partner. The interesting twist? Expedia supplies Amex Travel's hotel inventory and technology.
Standardize the product, own the guest, expand distribution, and charge more for the privilege. Sound familiar? 😉
Want to dive deeper? Airbnb's new house rules | Vrbo commission hike | Airbnb and Amex Travel
The AI Visibility Emperor Has No Clothes
Every AI visibility pitch seems to come with the same checklist: schema markup, FAQ blocks, an llms.txt file, a faster website. A new study suggests much of it isn’t doing what you’re paying for.
Stiplo, a London startup founded by Ennismore’s former chief digital officer, ran 114 traveler questions about Barcelona through ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity 20 times each, covering all 659 hotels in the city. A few things jumped out:
About 1 in 5 properties never showed up. Independents were eight times more likely than chains to be invisible. Once an independent made it into an answer, AI recommended it just as favorably. The problem is getting on the shelf.
Google reviews were the strongest signal, far more than OTA reviews, and volume mattered more than score.
The GEO checklist mostly came up empty. llms.txt, FAQ schema, and page speed showed no real effect. What helped was website content that answers real guest questions, like parking and airport transfers. Not exactly revolutionary.
Getting recommended doesn’t mean getting the booking. A hotel’s own website was cited just 7% of the time, and closer to 4% for independents. The best fix? Rank in plain old Google search. So much for SEO being dead.
AI has a long memory. Barcelona’s Grand Hyatt appeared 201 times under its old name.
A caveat: Stiplo sells AI visibility monitoring, so take its pitch for continuous monitoring with a raised eyebrow. And this is one city, measuring correlation, not cause.
For Hawaiʻi, branded Waikīkī hotels have their flag doing the heavy lifting. Independents and condo-hotels start from behind, but the niches are open. One Barcelona hotel near the stadium was 98 times more likely to appear for football trips. You don’t need to win “best hotel on Maui.” You need to be the obvious answer to a specific question.
As we said back in May, gatekeepers gonna gate. And the next time someone pitches you an expensive AI optimization package, ask how many Google reviews it comes with. 😉
Want to dive deeper? The Stiplo Barcelona Study, 2026 (full report). Keep in mind this is a lead gen form, so you not only get the report but lots of pitch emails as well.
FEAST Summit: Let’s Buy More Local
-Community Spotlight-
Join industry leaders this Thursday, Nov. 5 at the Sheraton Waikīkī for the launch of HALO, a push to get Hawaiʻi’s visitor industry buying more local. Highlights include Outrigger’s Jeff Wagoner and First Hawaiian Bank’s Bob Harrison on hospitality investment, and Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Thomas Foti with the New York Times’ chief restaurant critic on whether AI can replace human reviews. The ticket includes the full day and lunch from 11 chefs!
Industry Events
31st Annual State Security Conference - Nov 4-6, 2026 (Maui)
At Wailea Beach Resort.
Annual Fundraising Gala for UHMC Culinary Arts and Hospitality Programs - Nov 13, 2026 (Maui)
Celebrating 50 years of culinary education at UH Maui College.
Maui Hotel & Lodging Association (MHLA) Mixer - Dec 3, 2026 (Maui)
At Aurum in The Shops at Wailea.
*If you have industry events to share, please email me at [email protected].
Spotlight on Hawaiʻi Hospitality Opportunities
Area Director, Asia Sales - PM Hotel Group (Honolulu)
Area Director of Sales and Marketing - Hilton Hawaiian Village (Honolulu)
Hotel Operations Director, Aulani Resort & Spa - Disney Experiences (Kapolei)
Regional Director of Sales - Hotel Equities (Honolulu)
*If you happen to have any job openings, let us know. We will be glad to include them in the newsletter, space permitting; send the job link to [email protected].
Nothing gets the Hui typing like a hotel CEO saying “you do have to destroy some jobs.” Our post on the new AI-first management company drew the most replies this time, followed by OTA budgets.
AI Hospitality Group’s leaner sales teams:
“No AI in hospitality. Will fail and be disastrous”
“AI can improve efficiency, but maintaining service quality and the human touch will be the real test.”
“…Don’t underestimate the human being in the loop. The service in the end is about people visiting a property and not another 🤖 visiting you.”
“For all those whom I keep telling, a complete restructuring to hotel sales is coming…..read this.”
“Great, lot less job than before!”
“Labor costs and operational costs are high, so hotels cut staff and funding, in turn reducing amenities and value for guests… You end up with a shell of a hotel that can claim record-breaking top line and pushes it past its limits while giving nothing to the bottom line”
OTAs’ $5.37 billion marketing spend:
“Big Fish eat Little fish; bigger fish eat Big Fish”
“A useful next step for independent properties is making the essentials easy to find and consistent: room details, housekeeping arrangements and a clear way to contact the property. Discovery matters, and so does answering the practical questions before a guest books.”
HTA CEO search
“We knew the role would come with a few challenges. We just didn’t realize the Convention Center roof might be part of the interview! 😅 Jokes aside, Hawaiʻi needs a leader who can bring the industry, government, and our communities together.”
Hui Takes
You might have noticed we launched Hui Takes, our new weekly video series where we ask Hawaiʻi industry leaders what’s on their mind. The reaction has been great. So far we’ve had:
Duke Ah Moo - Put down the Phone Viewer comment: “My best memories of any vacation or special moment are not stored on my phone or on the cloud, but in my mind.”
Matt Bailey - Enough with all the brands Viewer comment: “Spot on, Matt! It’s transparently disingenuous to claim that customers are demanding brand proliferation.”
Jennifer Chun - Show Gratitude Viewer comment: “Jen, you’re one of the people that paved the way for me, and I am grateful! Mahalo!”
Want to view all our Hui Takes in one place? Check out our Hui Takes playlist on YouTube.
Think you’ve got a Hui Take in you? DM us on LinkedIn, and we’ll film it.
Newsletter Kudos
“Another excellent newsletter… your newsletter and now [Hui Takes] are educational, enlightening, provocative, and humorous. Don’t lose that East Coast sense of humor (sarcasm), I love it.”
HHH Note: Sarcasm? Us? Never. 😉
“Entertaining and pertinent write-up as always.”
Is AI coming for your org chart, or is the human touch safe for now? Send your take to [email protected] or drop a comment on our LinkedIn posts. Names stay out, and the sharpest lines make the next issue.
About Us
Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui was started by hotel industry veteran Dan Wacksman, CEO of Sassato, a Hawaiʻi-based consultancy that combines deep local expertise with a global perspective. Our team brings decades of experience across operations, marketing, revenue, tech, and finance. To be blunt: we get sh*t done.
For hotels and travel companies: Brand transitions, system selection (PMS, CRS, CMS, all the acronym soup), implementations, project management, feasibility studies, training, and audits. If your team is stretched, your processes are siloed, or your tech stack is stalling important work, we fix that.
For companies looking to enter or grow in Hawaiʻi: Every market says it’s different. Hawaiʻi actually is. It’s a small, relationship-driven market (literally an island, actually several), and what works on the continent doesn’t always translate. We help vendors and travel companies understand the landscape, sharpen their positioning, and build the right relationships.
For sponsors: Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui reaches decision-makers at hotels, management companies, ownership groups, and brands across the islands. Title, section, job listing, and pop-up sponsorships are available.
Sponsors and clients never get editorial say. If we write about you, it’s because the story earned it.
