LOS ANGELES — Though travel restrictions initially posed a challenge to Outrigger Hospitality Group's Hawaii and international properties, as conditions improved, demand returned.
In a video interview with Hotel News Now during the Americas Lodging Investment Summit, President and CEO Jeff Wagoner spoke about Outrigger Hotels & Resorts' recent acquisitions and path forward through the recovery.
Hawaii’s leisure demand has led to a fantastic summer for the islands, where occupancy has been strong, Wagoner said. Most Outrigger properties in Hawaii have been running over 80% occupancy.
All the demand comes from mainland U.S. as there have been no international flights into Hawaii. The airline statistics show the seats going to Hawaii are at 140% compared to pre-pandemic levels, he said. New markets flying to Hawaii include Austin, Phoenix and Orlando. United Airlines increased the number of flights going to Hawaii, and Southwest Airlines is new to the market.
“There are a significant amount of seats today versus pre-pandemic,” he said.
Without international travel, though, Wagoner said he expects that once kids in the U.S. go back to school, there won’t be the same robust level of travel headed to Hawaii, leading to dips in September and October. Next year will be “exceptionally strong,” he said, especially when international travel comes back on top of new domestic airline passengers coming to the islands.
For Outrigger’s international properties, the experience has been different depending on the location, Wagoner said. In Fiji, where the company has two properties, demand is dependent upon Australia and New Zealand, so the borders need to reopen or there needs to be a travel bubble to bring occupancies back to significant levels.
In Thailand, there’s what’s known as the “Phuket sandbox,” he said. It started July 1 and has been successful with driving local and international travel back to the city.
“They utilize that in order to create the template for opening up other resort destinations that are in Thailand,” he said. “We believe that those other resort destinations will open up, and we’ll start seeing some significant pent-up demand just like what happened in the U.S.”
The borders of Mauritius have been closed for a long time, so hotels there have been completely dependent on local travel, he said. Once the borders start opening up, international flights will return with leisure travelers.
“No matter where you are around the globe, everybody faced the pandemic; everybody had the same issues,” he said. “That same desire to get out and travel is there, no matter where you are in the world.”
For more with HNN's conversation with Jeff Wagoner, watch the video above.