The modified closure of the Hawai ‘i Convention Center over at least the next two years will cost the visitor industry hundreds of millions in lost revenue, and a lack of confidence in the state-run project’s timeline is putting future bookings at risk.
Teri Orton, general manager of the convention center, said the Hawai ‘i Tourism Authority is expected to issue a contract next month to fix the center’s rooftop terrace, which has been leaking since 1999. Orton said the start of the major rooftop work planned for early next year allows the center to address some $162.9 million in deferred maintenance projects and upgrades, including the rooftop repair, which is estimated to cost $64 million.
“These projects include multiple leak repairs throughout our building, rooftop terrace repairs, upgrades to food and beverage outlets, as well as modernization of our escalators and digital signage, ” she said.
The repairs and upgrades are critical, Orton said, to addressing long-term maintenance and ensuring the facility remains a premier venue for meetings and events. The tradeoff, however, is that the construction schedule will close the facility in 2026 and 2027 to “citywides, ” the industry term for events with at least 1, 000 guests who are booked at two or more hotels and plan to use center space.
The two-year construction timetable put the convention center at risk of losing 18 events scheduled for 2026 and 2027. Collectively, those events represented an estimated 61, 000 attendees, 115, 000 room nights and $387 million in economic impacts for Hawaii.
Meet Hawai ‘i, a collaboration of the Hawai ‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau and the convention center, is working to identify opportunities where they can move displaced groups to future years or accommodate them within hotel properties.
Under Meet Hawai ‘i, HVCB is responsible for selling citywide and single-property business and the center is responsible for local bookings and community events.
Meet Hawai ‘i Vice President Lynn Whitehead, who oversees sales and marketing for global meetings, conventions, and incentives, said that to date eight groups have been retained, representing 22, 806 attendees, 33, 449 hotel room nights and $122 million in economic impacts.
Whitehead said seven groups are moving to future years, which will allow Hawaii to eventually see the benefit from their combined 38, 000 attendees, 81, 000 room nights and $263.8 million in economic impacts. The large Rotary International Convention, which was slated to come to Hawaii in 2027, now will return in 2032.
Whitehead said four of these groups have signed definite contracts, and she expects the remainder to sign by year’s end.
She said Meet Hawai ‘i is still working to find solutions for two more groups that represent 19, 000 attendees, 23, 000 room nights and $80 million in economic impacts.
Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawai ‘i Hotel Alliance, said he is grateful that some of the group business has been self-contained to hotels and that some of the larger groups are coming back in future years.
Still, Gibson estimates that moving 81, 000 room nights into the future will not prevent hotels from an immediate loss of $28.2 million in direct hotel room revenue, $20.8 million in direct hotel food and beverage revenue and $8.2 million in direct hotel activities.
Beyond that, he said “there’s a much broader rainbow effect that I’m not counting.”
Gibson said the drop in citywide-related hotel business in 2027 also could cause a significant drop in taxes and in hours for hotel employees, who are scheduled to work based on hotel occupancy.
He said the damage would rise if he had included pre-and post-conference stays, especially to the neighbor islands, or hotel compression, which occurs when demand from large groups constrains hotel supply, causing room rates to rise.
“When large groups fill conference hotels, even nonconference hotels see gains, ” Gibson said.
Lengthy state process Keith Vieira, principal of KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said another major concern for Hawaii’s visitor industry is the impact of the modified convention center schedule on future business. Vieira said meeting planners have told him they are waiting to book.
“When you are going through a major renovation, customers won’t book until you are done because they are afraid of delays, ” he said. “In this situation, it’s even worse because this is a state-controlled project and there is a history of things getting pushed down the road and not getting completed on time. People are looking at the stadium and other projects. They look at the continued delays and they are concerned.”
The convention center rooftop project itself already has a troubled history. Repairing the rooftop, which was designed to allow the center to expand, has been a complicated process filled with expensive studies and mired by changing construction codes and political whims.
The rooftop terrace has been leaking since 1999. Heavy rains now exacerbate the leaks from the rooftop terrace and large planters and have sometimes closed meeting spaces or required unsightly rubbish bins to catch the water. And scaffolding at the main parking entry and the escalators sometimes breaks.
It wasn’t until 2023 that state lawmakers fully allocated funding for rooftop terrace repairs. Orton said this year’s Legislature approved $36.4 million to fast-track other planned projects to take advantage of the center’s closure.
Since then, leadership shake-ups at the Hawai ‘i Tourism Authority have prompted the state Department of Accounting and General Services to step in to help manage the rooftop renovation. The center’s Legends Global team is overseeing all other projects, Orton said.
“Large-scale renovation projects can sometimes bring unexpected challenges. Should new issues arise, the center will continue to work in close coordination with HTA, DAGS and our project management teams to assess the scope, determine next steps and implement solutions with minimal disruption, ” she said.
The rooftop project’s procurement still isn’t complete. HTA issued an invitation for bids to fix the leaky rooftop terrace on Jan. 6 and canceled it March 18.
Orton said contractors told her the original one-year timeline wasn’t feasible due to the discovery of more extensive corrosion and rust from deferred maintenance and the site’s proximity to residential neighbors.
HTA interim President and CEO Caroline Anderson said the agency issued a request for proposals for the rooftop repair in April with a construction timeline that runs from January 2026 to the end of November 2027.
Anderson said the new rooftop repair proposals are due Wednesday. HTA expects to issue a notice to award the contract the week of Oct. 13, and the week of Oct. 27 is slated to execute the contract.
Anderson said if the scope of work broadens from unforeseen damage that is identified during construction, HTA will seek approval for additional funding from Gov. Josh Green and state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director James Kunane Tokioka.
“I know that the governor knows how important this project is not only for Oahu but for the state in general, so I believe we will have his support, as well as, of course, (Tokioka’s support ), ” Anderson said.
Future business Orton said the convention center will run a modified events schedule in 2026 and 2027, and that some smaller groups may be able to meet there in the evenings from Monday to Friday or make use of openings over the weekends and three-day holiday weekends. Center parking will not be open, she said, adding that alternative parking is available at the nearby Ala Moana Center.
“Construction will not be stopped for events, ” Orton said. “Our priority is ensuring the facility is modernized and well-positioned to serve Hawaii for decades to come while continuing to operate on a modified event schedule during the renovation period.”
Whitehead said the center currently has eight citywide events on the books for 2028, collectively representing 28, 000 attendees, 53, 000 room nights and $190 million in economic impacts.
According to Orton, the center has retained its 2028 bookings, but uncertainty has dropped the booking pace in some future years.
Whitehead said that so far there are only four definite groups contracted for 2029, seven groups for 2030 and one group for 2031. She added that the citywide sales team is 40 % over its year-over-year tentative booking leads.
The team has the potential to close eight tentative booking leads in 2028, according to Whitehead, along with eight in 2029, eight in 2030, five in 2031, nine in 2032, five in 2033, none in 2034 and one in 2035.
Orton said in comparison the convention center in fiscal year 2025 hosted 18 citywide events and 235 local events, a critical mix of business that generated $27.4 million in gross revenue for the center. Citywide events in fiscal year 2025 also contributed to $388 million in visitor spending and generated $45.4 million in taxes, she said.
Even with the modified schedule, Orton is expecting some fallout in local event bookings, which in fiscal year 2025 contributed $14.5 million to the center’s gross revenue. With restricted use of the facility during construction, she said the center is forecasting a projected fiscal year 2026 local revenue loss of $4.5 million.
Whitehead said the construction contract execution timeline has challenged the team, but they are optimistic that activity will pick up once the rooftop terrace contract is signed and construction begins.
Clients are hesitant because of the uncertainty of construction and geopolitical issues, she explained. Hawaii’s visitor industry is grappling with the Trump administration’s tariffs and tightening travel entry policies, as well as domestic and international economic downturns and rising international tensions.
“As we get this contract signed, we really think that it’s going to infuse some energy into our booking cycle, ” Whitehead said. “It’s imperative that the construction stays on the timeline so that we can infuse some confidence in the marketplace.”