Kohala Coast defies
state's hotel occupancy woes.
Outdoor activities, especially golf, attract visitors from all directions and generate business for Big Island hotels.
     Timothy Ruel PBN Staff Reporter

A boon for the Kohala Coast of the Big Island, where hotel occupancy jumped 21 percent in October from the same time last year, comes from the Big Island's most obvious advantage: its space and amenities.
   Kauai, Molokai and Oahu showed hotel occupancy decreases of 8.74 percent, 2.84 percent and 7.89 percent respectively for the same periods. Occupancy on the Big Island as a whole rose 7.6 percent, according to PKF-Hawaii.
   Hotel managers on the Kohala Coast cite the abundance of golf, cultural activities, fishing and open vistas on the Big Island as contributing to a growing number of arrivals.
   Four Seasons Resort Hualalai's recent growth in occupancy has mainly come from Californians, who want more cultural and physical activities than Oahu has to offer, said General Manager Kathleen Horrigan.
   But arrivals are also coming from Asia. Kohala's recent occupancy-rate jump, from 53.8 to 65.23 percent, mainly stems from a direct flight from Narita, Japan, to Kona that started daily service at the beginning of the year.
   Japan Airlines posted 10,430 passengers on its Narita-Kona flight, up from 6,000 from the same time last year, according to Gilbert Kimura, Hawaii sales representative for JAL.
   JAL took the flight from three to four times a week and turned it into a daily flight to persuade Japanese travel agencies to sell visitors on the Kona-Kohala area.
   Boosting Japanese tourism can be slow and a lot depends on marketing.
   "When they say Hawaii, it's Waikiki. We had to sell Hawaii, but it's Kona," Camera said.
   Japanese had to become accustomed to visiting Kona as a destination, according to Kimura. Sellable aspects of Kona-Kohala for the Japanese include the Big Island's golfing, fishing and vast outdoor space, he said.
   "The Japanese are looking for beautiful golf courses," agreed Fred Duerr, general manager for Kona Village Resort.
   Visitors can play four or five nearby courses, including the Mauna Lani Resort and Mauna Kea Beach Golf courses and the Kona International Country Club.
   Those visitors who want to golf aren't just the Japanese. October is traditionally a strong month for booking conventions from the mainland, according to Bill Sayce, general manager for Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows.
   Vacations are ending and people get down to business again, which includes conventions. With its many golf courses and relaxing atmosphere, the Big Island has become an ideal setting.
   A Sun Microsystems Inc. convention during the middle of October took up roughly 1,700 rooms on the coast, according to Dieter Seeger, general manager for Hilton Waikoloa Village.
   The Iron Man Triathlon, which occurs annually during the beginning of October, fills up Kona hotels, mostly with westbound arrivals from Europe and the mainland, Seeger said.