On Friday mornings you see me here with big Legos showing you how full the hotels are, and lately Oahu has been more than 80% full but the other islands have been much lower. Now comes a different, also from Hospitality Advisors, measuring occupancy in TIMESHARES.

The report finds Hawaii timeshares were almost 89 percent full in the spring quarter. This summer, occupancy is nearing 92%. That's way more than hotel occupancy.

Thousands of your neighbors own local timeshares, but it's also true that 34% of Hawaii timeshare guests are first-time visitors to Hawaii, significant because so many first-time visitors become REGULAR visitors.

Timeshares employ thousands of employees, not counting construction workers, and the timeshare employment rolls grew 28% in 2007, because this part of the visitor industry is NOT cooling.

The American Resort Development Association commissioned the research. Its Hawaii chapter president, Mitch Imanaka, says "ownership is the highest form of loyalty." When you've already paid for your lodging, you can better afford the plane fare and car rental, and it feels wasteful NOT to visit. It's not a coincidence that Kauai, with by far the highest proportion of timeshares and vacation ownership properties to hotel rooms, is the only island with higher visitor traffic this summer than last.

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