Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ:HST) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The good news is that the displaced residents are really moving into more permanent homes and apartments. We like that. We like to see people get out of hotels and move into their — move into a home and start their way back because so many people lost so much. They lost everything as a result of these wildfires. So the hotel association is — and all the hotel owners on the island are working together to put a marketing plan in place. One of the other factors that still is out there with respect to the island is the fact that air capacity, the number of seats is down around 19% over the first quarter of 2019. And that’s consistent with where the capacity went post the wildfires in August of last year. So — it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation right now.

We’ve got to get people back to the island. We have to sell the beauty of Maui and the experiences that they can get, even if it’s not on the west side, if it’s in Wailea. And we’re confident that once that starts happening, that the airlines will increase capacity and the recovery will commence.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of our allotted time for questions and answers. So I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Risoleo for any closing comments he may have.

Jim Risoleo: Well, thank you again for joining us. We appreciate the opportunity to discuss our quarterly results with you, and we look forward to seeing many of you on the road and certainly at NAREIT in New York. Have a good day. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you, everyone. This concludes today’s conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. We thank you for your participation.