With the credit crunch back in the States, the high end travel sector in Hawaii has felt the pinch, and it may pinch harder yet. According to reports, average hotel occupancy in the Hawaiian Islands fell to 74.2 percent, a 6.5 percent drop from the same month a year ago.

The drop marked the fifth consecutive monthly decline for the market, and its lowest occupancy rate for July since 1998.

The decline can be easily traced to a drop in visitors to the traditionally successful and profitable tourism market. Travelers from Japan alone have dropped by 11.7 percent, corporate meetings dropped 26.7 percent and honeymooners dropped by 24.2 percent.

The horizon shows no sign of respite quite yet.

“The fall shoulder season also looks troubling with a lot of uncertainty for the first quarter 2009,” Toy said.

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According to new reports from Oban Multilingual, a Search Engine Optimization Company, international travelers prefer eye-catching design over simplicity in travel websites.

The report surveyed international travelers from over 40 countries.

What’s a simple website?

A non-elaborate or ’showy’ site in appearance or style, or plain, unassuming, unpretentious.

Eye-catching sites are bold, outstanding, pronounced and with an overt sense of ’style’.

While sites fall in and around these two camps, most can be safely put into one or the other. 

Likes and dislikes were found to fall along cultural lines, which might mean targeting a specific region should be prefaced by similar research into that community. For example, Chinese travelers tend to have a preference for flashy, busy websites.

Regardless of flashy or simple designs, the study did find that the ease of navigation remained on top of visitors concerns. 

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The world’s second 7-Star hotel will be built in China, according to the management agreement signed over the weekend in Beijing, China.

Antaeus Group, a Chinese real-estate company, and the Canadian Fairmont Hotels and Resorts will team up to build the hotel in Sanya, a popular tourist destination in the south of China in the Hainan Province.

The only other 7-Star hotel in the world is located in Dubai, the Burj Al Arab Hotel. 

Construction on the Chinese property will begin this year with plans to open doors in 2011. The hotel will be located in the center of Haitan Bay in Sanya, taking up a large 215,300 square meters. It will be the new neighbor to a luxury yacht club, an 18-hole seaside golf course, and Asia’s largest ocean park.

Total investments in the project are between 1.5 and 2 billion yuan (US$219.23 to 292.30 million).

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Marriott Internatioanl (NYSE:MAR) announced that it will be expanding its Caribbean/Latin American hotel holdings, opening six new hotels that will range from moderate-priced Courtyard by Marriott to the upscale Marriott brand.

Four Courtyard by Marriott hotels wll open in Guarquil, Ecuador; Paramaribo, Suriname; San Pedro Sula, Honduras; and Paramaribo Suriname. A Marriott Hotel open in Cuzco, Peru and a Residence Inn by Marriott in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

“We are excited by the range of travel experiences these five properties will represent and that, with the exception of the Courtyard hotel in Suriname, all are additional properties in countries in which we are already operating, thereby enabling us to give local and long distance travelers more opportunities to experience the Marriott International brand of lodging hospitality in these countries,” said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott International.

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Online travel megasite TripAdvisor polled 2,200 visitors to get an idea of what makes and breaks a deal with a hotel and to learn more about travel patterns.

The report sites the following interesting tidbits:

• What Makes A Hotel Great? 30% location, 29% comfortable beds, 24% staff service.
• What Ruins A Hotel Stay? 54% unclean rooms, 14% noisy guests, 11% poor service.
• Bad Stuff: 
  • 68% have stayed in rooms with dirty/stained carpets.
  • 64% in rooms with non-working appliances.
  • 59% have waited as their rooms weren’t ready on time.
  • 38% think the carpet is the dirtiest part of a hotel room.
  • 8% encountered bed bugs in their hotel room.
• Okay Stuff:
  • 78% said hotels are “as advertised”.
  • 37% are brand loyal.

What’s the message?

Make sure first impressions are good. Brand loyalty is high, but encountering poor conditions or bad service is even higher. Being able to stand out from the crowd and provide cleanliness might be enough to earn you a customer for life.

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According to a recent report by the Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, investor interest in the San Francisco hotel investment market isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. 

The report states that more than three-quarters of upper-upscale hotels have recently or are currently undergoing a renovation, and that the San Francisco market is an example to other markets on how to maximize revenues and make value even amid an economic downturn.

“Already a front-runner in year-to-date RevPAR gains, San Francisco’s investors are focusing their attention - and dollars - on capital improvements, which will lift the ADR ceiling even higher, and will give way to a stronger position once transaction levels accelerate,” said Kristina Paider, senior vice president of research and marketing for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

Few hotels are up for sale in the market, leading investors to put their money into renovations and income enhancement. The entire market is characterized by a high barrier-to-entry, with only 4 new hotels being built and opened since 2004.

A good sign that the downturn isn’t an exclusively negative force, and that several markets such as San Francisco continue to improve value and profit.

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Mr Koos Klein, President of Hilton Hotels Corp (HHC) Asia-Pacific, has announced he will leave the company by the end of the year.

Mr Klein has been at HHC in Asia-Pacific for the past 10 years and was recently named Asia-Pacific Hotelier of the Year by Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. He plans to return to Australia where his two sons are studying and take some time off before considering a new role in a Sydney based company.

Mr Ian Carter, HHC President said: 

“Koos has made an enormous contribution to the success of our business, particularly in terms of our presence and our prospects for growth and development in Asia.  We are now well positioned for high growth potential in the key markets of both India and China.  During his leadership in Asia, Koos has opened many of our flagship Hilton hotels such as Sydney, as well as leading resort hotels, which has resulted in the company establishing a strong brand presence and awareness in the region.”

Mr Klein’s decision had everything to do with his personal life, he told TTG Daily News, and his desire to be closer to his family in Sydney.

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Kingdom Hotels, and affiliate of Riyadh-based Kingdom Holding, are seeking financing for a $350 million budget.

“We are in advanced stages of discussions with lenders and expect to raise the amount by the end of this year. It would be used to finance development of projects as well as strengthen capacity of Kingdom Hotel Investments,” Zok said without divulging the names of the lenders involved.

Kingdom Hotels (KHI) posted a net profit of $20.6m for the first half of 2008, an increase of more than 8%. The growth is credited to diversification into high growth markets in Asia and other regions.

Amid reports of cancelled projects, such as the residential component of a project in Da Nang, Vietnam, the company is seeking the multi-million dollar debt figure to help finance growth in other regions of its empire. No clear description of the intended projects was given by KHI.

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