Maui vacation rental occupancy logs in at 9.8 percent for month of August

Maui County vacation rentals logged 9.8 percent occupancy in August, which was close to the hotel rate of 8.6 percent for the month, the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported Thursday.

Maui continued to have the largest vacation rental supply of all four counties with 123,129 available unit nights — which was down 57.9 percent from a year ago. The report notes that unlike hotels and timeshare units, vacation rentals are not necessarily available year-round and often accommodate larger number of guests than traditional hotels.

Wailea-Kihei logged an occupancy rate of 12.7 percent with $206.17 daily rate. The west side logged a higher daily rate at $313.62 but lower occupancy of 5.9 percent.

The average daily rate for Maui County was $229, down 38.2 percent.

Statewide, occupancy was 13.6 percent for August, down 60.7 percentage points. Supply was down 60 percent. The daily rate was $191.28.

On Oahu, short-term rentals, defined as rented for less than 30 days, were not allowed to operate in August, due to the sharp rise in new COVID-19 cases. In Maui County, legal short-term rentals were allowed to operate as long as they were not being used as a quarantine location, the Tourism Authority said.

The report utilizes data from Transparent Intelligence and excludes units in hotel and timeshare reports. A vacation rental is defined as the use of a rental house, condo unit, private room, private home or shared room/space in a private home. The report does not differentiate between permitted and unpermitted vacation rentals.