Morgan Stanley: Hawaii retail and tourism strongly improved

Morgan Stanley(MS) published an analyst report on American Assets Trust (AAT) about their investor day last week saying that both retail and tourism in Hawaii has strongly improved.  American Assets Trust which owns Waikele (retail), Waikiki Beach Walk (Retail and Hotel) and the Shops at Kalakaua, has really increased revenue in 2011 and are taking aggressive steps to increase that in 2012.

The analyst at Morgan Stanley also points out that General Growth’s (GGP) Ala Moana Center is doing exceptionally well, with the two strong powerhouses being Forever 21 and the Apple store (AAPL).

The Morgan Stanley report points out strong Asian tourism gains especially from China and South Korea.

Tourism being the largest industry here drives many other industries.  With the influx of Asian tourists, we automatically see an uptick in Asian purchases of our local real estate.  They have come to buy throughout the economy downturn and recently we have seen an uptick in their purchase activity which helps support out local real estate market overall.

To learn more about our market or if you need help finding your own slice of paradise contact me, Malia Meenderman, R. Aloha!