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Hilo International Airport has become the first in Hawaii to pursue an on-campus hotel under the state's airports modernization program, and developers are already signaling interest weeks after the Hawaii Department of Transportation formally began recruiting builders for two parcels of state land adjacent to the runway.

HDOT's 62-page request for information document, released in late March, describes a hotel intended to serve "business travelers (including airline crews and state and other employees traveling for work) and leisure travelers" who need close access to ITO's passenger terminal, along with general aviation users. Two potential hotel sites on state land adjacent to the airport are outlined in the document. The state plans to structure any deal as a ground or concessionary lease, meaning the selected developer would be responsible for financing, constructing and operating the hotel, with no public construction dollars committed to the project.

Medical visitors traveling to Hilo Benioff Medical Center and inter-island passengers grounded by flight disruptions are among the traveler groups the state cited as potential guests. ITO sits roughly two miles east of downtown Hilo, with no lodging currently located on airport grounds.

Developers interested in examining the two proposed sites can attend a state-organized walk-through at 10 a.m. on April 17. Written questions for HDOT must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. on April 30, with final written responses posted by May 15.

The RFI is explicitly non-binding and preliminary, designed to gauge developer interest and capacity rather than solicit formal proposals. HDOT spokesperson Shelly Kunishige said late last year that even after a developer is selected, the project will require a full environmental assessment and all standard state permitting before construction could begin, putting any groundbreaking several years out.

The airport hotel concept has a legislative anchor: state Sen. Lorraine Inouye, who represents Senate District 1 on the Big Island's east side, championed 2021 legislation authorizing hotel development at Hawaii airports and has said Hilo should be prioritized. The ITO effort now represents the first concrete test of that law under the Hawaii Airports Modernization Program.

The push for new airport-adjacent lodging comes as Hilo's broader hotel landscape has contracted. The former Uncle Billy's Hilo Bay Hotel on Banyan Drive, once a fixture of east Hilo's visitor economy, was demolished after falling into dangerous disrepair, and Mayor Kimo Alameda has suggested that site may remain open space given sea-level rise risks along the shoreline. What gets built at the airport, and who it ultimately serves, will depend on whether a developer clears the environmental and community review process that lies between the current RFI and a ribbon-cutting.