An Inside Look at Outrigger Kona's Renovation, Plus More Brand News

Fresh off Outrigger Resorts & Hotels’ 2024 TravelAge West WAVE award wins for Best Hawaii Hotel Brand and Best Hawaii Hotel Brand for Families, we caught up with Sean Dee, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President, to learn more about the $60 million renovation that wrapped up last month at the oceanfront, 511-guestroom Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa on Hawaii Island.

Dee also shared details about ongoing and future renovations planned elsewhere in Outrigger’s portfolio of hotel properties, spoke further about a new Hawaii-themed Cirque du Soleil show the hotelier will launch in Waikiki later this year and discussed the current state of tourism business to the Hawaiian Islands following last year’s devastating wildfires on Maui.

First, what’s new at Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa?

From a consumer perspective, the sense of arrival has dramatically changed, with a whole new porte cochere and [entry] experience. We changed the lobby, so when you enter the [resort] itself, it’s a full panoramic view of Keauhou Bay and the Pacific Ocean behind you. We have updated all the corridors and every room, including the bathrooms and the lanais. The public spaces also needed a major refresh, and we added the Piko Coffee & Wine Bar in partnership with Big Island Coffee Roasters.

We’ve always had two pools at the property, but we upgraded the slide, so we now have the highest slide in the Kona region. We’ve got an adults-only pool, as well as the family pool, which has been significantly upgraded; it has a sand entry, so it’s just great for kids. The Holua Pool Bar has also been completely renovated, and there’s a new Club Voyager 47 lounge, too.

What improvements were made in the resort’s guestrooms, specifically?

There was a complete room renovation. The art package, the carpeting, all the furniture and all the soft goods have completely been replaced. Then, we effectively gutted the bathrooms. These were the original bathrooms back from the early 1970s when the hotel was built. So, we expanded the size of them, put in all new modern fixtures and upgraded them pretty extensively.

Are there other Outrigger developments that travel advisors should know about?

We’re currently working on a renovation at the Ohana Waikiki East in Honolulu, which is actually an off-beach property, but we are considering that our second craft hotel. Our first craft hotel was the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber, which we debuted in 2019, and we are really proud to announce that property now is number one on TripAdvisor in Waikiki.

So, we're taking that formula with the Ohana East renovation and considering that our second craft hotel. While it's off-beach, we'll still have signature experiences, we'll still have great operating partners, a great art program, and again, a really great sense of place. That renovation should be complete in September.

We have also acquired some new properties on the neighbor islands. We acquired the Kaanapali Beach Hotel in [2023], now rebranded as Outrigger Kaanapali Beach Resort [on Maui]. We also acquired Kauai Beach Resort in August of last year, which is now rebranded as Outrigger Kauai Beach Resort. So, both of those will also go through a renovation process over the next two years.

Then, a last bit of news — which is probably not least important for us — is a major investment and partnership with Cirque du Soleil. The group out of Vegas for the first time will be entering the Hawaii market — not a tour, it's a residency. We've made a 10-year commitment with Cirque du Soleil to open a Hawaii-themed Cirque show, a residence show at the Outrigger Theater, which will be at the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. That's on sale now, opening date Dec. 15th, 2024, and it will be called “Auana.”

What is about this new Auana Cirque du Soleil performance that makes it Hawaii-themed?

When we entered into the agreement, it was imperative that the show be about Hawaii. Not bringing a mainland show — or just something that Cirque could create themselves — and just bringing that to us. So it was a very active, creative collaboration. Auana, even the name of it, which means “to wander off the beaten path or to journey” — was thoroughly considered.

The Hawaiian language plays a critical part, and Hawaiian music. All the music is being produced and will be performed by Hawaiian musicians in the show itself.

At its core, it's a Hawaiian cultural experience. So Hawaiian language, music and dance are all critical elements of the execution. We're super proud of how this is coming together. It was important, we think, to tell a Hawaiian story, but of course with a Cirque lens.

RELATED: Is West Maui Back to Normal? A Look at Tourism in Kaanapali Now

How is tourism to Hawaii performing now?

Obviously, COVID-19 caused a massive disruption to our industry, and put a lot of people out of work. But we came out of [the pandemic] pretty well. We ramped in 2021 and 2022, and in 2023 we continued that, getting back to near pre-COVID-19 levels.

Then, the Maui fires hit, which were just devastating. More than 100 people lost their lives, and more than 3,000 structures were destroyed. [It was] just a terrible tragedy, and I think that has really put the brakes on tourism overall. Clearly, Maui’s down dramatically.

Visitation to West Maui — according to the latest stats I saw — was down 30-35%. And to the state, overall, in the last few months, we’ve been trending down a little bit.

We want to get people back to work. We’re worried about Maui residents losing their livelihoods. Something like 13,000 people were displaced. And a key priority right now is housing in Lahaina for our people, for our workers, and then getting tourism back to at least 2019 levels by 2026 or 2027.

So you don’t expect tourism on Maui to return to pre-COVID levels until 2026?

It's tough to forecast, because there's still some uncertainty with recovery efforts. … From a tourism standpoint, our forecasts indicate, assuming the Lahaina recovery efforts continue, that we'll be looking at recovery probably '26, '27. So it's going to be slow and steady. But Maui's open for business. We welcome people to come. … The aloha spirit's never been stronger, and we welcome visitors back. Obviously, we want visitors to stay away from the burn area [in Lahaina], specifically. But Maui is a big island. There's plenty to do. We welcome people back. We want to get our people back to work.