A recent PBN article highlights what’s becoming a familiar refrain from industry and policy leaders: focus on the luxury traveler, as if we can just manifest a Four Seasons on every corner and call that strategy. We’ve talked before about the myth of the “right tourist,” and now we seem to be doubling down with a luxury-first narrative that ignores a pretty inconvenient truth: roughly 82% of Hawaiʻi’s hotel inventory is not luxury, while true luxury makes up maybe 18%.
Yes, Luxury has been crushing it, with statewide ADR of around $750 in January 2026 and February 2026.
No argument there. But building a statewide strategy around a sliver of inventory is like optimizing your rates based on your best suite. The reality is that most operators are running Courtyards, not Ritz-Carltons, and the playbook should probably reflect that.
We’re not Monaco. We’re not St. Barts. We’re a broad-based market with a long tail of midscale products doing the heavy lifting. So when the strategy becomes “let’s just attract luxury travelers,” it’s worth asking: to where exactly?
Yes, we have some incredible properties. Some of the best in the world. But they represent a handful of hotels statewide (~20 by my count). Meanwhile, most properties sit in that midscale range to upper upscale.
None of this is to say we shouldn’t invest in quality, experience, or rate growth. We should. But there’s a difference between elevating the product and pretending the market is something it’s not.
Because at some point, the math wins.
