HawaiiGaga.com, the search engine for Hawaii vacation rentals, today released vacation rental statistics based on data from the 5600 vacation rentals the search engine indexes. Statistics include occupancy rates, visitor demographic data, and average rental prices.

Demographic data shows that the vacation rental industry has not penetrated the Japanese market, with Japanese tourists accounting for less than 1% of rental vacationers. Conversely, Canadians show a strong preference for rentals, accounting for 9% of rental visitors and spending an average of $2600 on accommodations. 43% of rental visitors come from the west coast states - California, Washington and Oregon.

The average occupancy rate for Hawaii’s vacation rentals was 59% for the period from August 24, 2008 to Mar 28, 2009. Maui had the best occupancy rate at 64% while the Big Island had the worst at 51%. Demand for rentals was highest during February, with an overall occupancy rate of 80%.

For more details see our Hawaii vacation rental statistics page.

Announcing the HawaiiGaga.com rental review contest!

Every month we’re giving away beautiful prints by Hawaiian artists Lynne Boyer and Patrick Ching. If you’ve spent time in one of the thousands of hawaii vacation rentals indexed by HawaiiGaga.com, please submit a review. To qualify, you must have stayed at the rental after January 1st, 2008.

Visit our contest page for more information.

Examples of Patrick Ching (left) and Lynne Boyer’s (right) Art

We’ve updated our Hawaii weather guides to include monthly temperature and rainfall data for several towns on each island. This allows one to make assessments about the best time of year to travel, although it’s apparent that Hawaii is plenty nice year round.

Kekaha - one of the hottest areas of Hawaii

The above sample shows Kekaha’s historic average monthly high temperatures. Kekaha must be one of the hottest and most arid regions in Hawaii, which confirms why nearby barking sands beach is said to make barking sounds when you walk on the beach - from the heat of the sand compressing under your feet. We’ve never heard the sand bark but we’ve burnt our feet on the extremely hot sand.

Aloha and welcome to Letters from Hawaii, a travel guide for the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island.

We’ve officially launched HawaiiGaga.com, the Vacation Rental Search Engine for Hawaii. Our website makes it easy to discover all Hawaii’s best vacation rentals. We love spending our vacations in Hawaii and we’ve experienced the frustration of searching the internet, checking availability calendars and trying to find the best rentals that meet our dates, budget and expectations. Now our search engine does all the hard work for you. We review and organize all the rentals, remove duplicate listings, and try to utilize listings that are as close to the owner as possible so you don’t get caught paying 3rd party agent fees. Our search results are presented in a way that allow you to quickly review many rentals.

Spending vacation with friends & family? HawaiiGaga.com can permanently save the rentals and activities you like. Other members in your party can then go to the site and see the rentals you selected. It’s an easy way to keep track of your favorite options.

The site also features hundreds of panorama photos of Hawaii’s beaches and attractions. For example, take a look at the best beaches in Hawaii.

Our interactive island maps show you the location of rentals relative to attractions and allow you to explore the island. Now you’ll know exactly how close your rental is to the beach.

We welcome feedback and suggestions. For us holidays represent the best life has to offer. We want to help and make sure your vacations are as good as they can possibly be.