The recent tourism numbers point to more hesitant hotel bookings as Hawaiʻi heads into the fourth quarter of the year.
To get a better look at how the hotel industry is faring, HPR spoke with Jerry Gibson, the president of the Hawaiʻi Hotel Alliance.
As the number of visitors weakened during the summer months, Gibson discussed whether there may be pressure to lower hotel room rates as the new year approaches.
According to the 2025 Hawaiʻi Data Book, the daily hotel room rate averaged over $300, and airfares have jumped up — in some cases, even doubled. What does that say about affording a Hawaiian vacation?
“July, we were already hitting a very soft market. … We had a really slow pace, and that's very unusual. That's when families travel. We normally really get a big bang out of July, and we really didn't get that much,” Gibson said.
“It's been one thing after another,” he continued, referencing the repeat storms that pummeled Hawaiʻi in the summer and devastated communities across the islands.
“And then if we approach Q4 … October and November don't look like they're going to be robust by any means.”
For islands like Kauaʻi, which is still recovering from Hurricane Lowell, severe storm damage discourages tourists from visiting at a time when their economic support is paradoxically needed the most.
The solution, according to Gibson, is to get competitive.
“The hotels have to go out and be aggressive with pricing, with the internal marketing they have, because we don't really have a lot of marketing money,” he told HPR.
More of HPR’s coverage on Hawaiʻi’s economy and tourism can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 9, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
