LIHUE, Hawaii -- Tourism on hurricane-ravaged Kauai, which relies on visitors for 80 percent of its income, will not start to recover until the end of this year at the earliest, analysts said Monday.
'For most of the resorts, it will take anywhere from three to 12 months to re-open,' said Bruce Baltin, an analyst with hotel industry consultants Pannell Kerr Forster of Los Angeles. 'It could frankly take as much as two years if they were severely damaged.'
Hurricane Iniki claimed four lives -- three on Kauai and one on Oahu -- and caused an estimated $1.4 billion in damage. Nearly 100 people were injured in Kauai's worst natural disaster this century.
About 1 million tourists visit the island each year. The storm damaged 75 percent to 80 percent of the island, with damage to the major resorts varying. The Kiahuna Plantation Resort sustained a reported $100 million of damage.
The Westin chain released a statement Monday that said its 846-room Westin Kauai at Kauai Lagoons, which was 80 percent full when the hurricane struck, had sustained blown-out windows, some flooding on the first floor and damage to landscaping.
Damages at the resort, located on the southeastern coast, were reported at between $20 million and $30 million, but the Seattle-based chain said it has not yet arrived at a specific figure.
Westin said the resort, which has 1,000 employees, would be closed until services are restored and the full extent of any damages could be assessed. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Vasey said it would probably be at least two months before the facility reopened.
At Poipu Beach, the Hyatt Regency Kauai was reported to be structurally intact.
Many of the resorts on Kauai, such as Princeville on the north coast and Poipu Beach on the south, are owned by Japanese investors.
Jack Rodman, director of accounting firm Kenneth Leventhal & Co.'s Pacific Rim practice, said some of Kauai hotels had been performing poorly, with low occupancies, prior to the hurricane. So there is some question whether damaged resorts will be rebuilt.
'The question is, did they have sufficient insurance?' Rodman said. 'The owners can't have been that happy, so I think there's some uncertainty.'
Rodman said owners may be waiting to see what kind of financial help is available. 'It obviously does not make sense for the owners to keep the properties closed, so a lot of Japanese may be anticipating some kind of bailout entity being created,' he said.
Baltin noted that the Hawaiian Islands' tourism business was already depressed because its two major sources of tourists -- Japan and Southern California -- have been in recession.
'Hawaii's two major markets are hardly booming right now,' Baltin said. But by the same token, if they can afford to rebild, they probably will if they're covered by insurance.'
Baltin said the tourists will eventually return to Kauai, 550 square miles of lush landscapes and white beaches.
'It took San Francisco's tourism bsuiness about six months to recover from the 1989 earthquake,' Baltin said. 'This will be shorter. There's less fear of hurricanes than there is of earthquakes, and people don't tend to associate natural disasters with a place being unappealing.'
'Kauai will have a problem with getting the message out as things become available again,' Baltin said. 'That'll take a lot of marketing dollars.'
The Hawaii Visitors Bureau reported Monday that conditions were mostly normal in the rest of the state. The agency said it was releasing a video press release from Waikiki Beach and said it has been been in fax-communication with over 12,000 travel agencies to communicate that while Kauai was damaged, the rest of the state was mostly spared.
'Our business seems to be continuing unabated,' said Stanley Hong, president of the visitors bureau. 'Waikiki hotels and the airlines into Honolulu are completely full. It's sunny and beautiful.'
