Remember when it was a coup just to get a room in Hawaii during the high season? No longer.

With the state mired in its worst tourism slump in decades, Hawaii's resorts are being forced to offer more discounts and upgrades this winter to fill space, says hotel consultant Joseph Toy of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A recently released Coopers survey found that the average room rate at Hawaiian resorts, at $127, has hardly budged in t wo years.

But Toy says the prices are even better than the statistics indicate. Instead of lowering rates this winter, many hotels are throwing in extras, such as free rental cars, meals and nights. "There's a lot of added value. It's effectively a discount."

Hawaii has struggled despite a booming U.S. economy, which has fueled record travel by Americans this year. So far in 1998, visits to the Aloha State are down 1.6% -- the eighth straight year of disappointment since tourism peaked in 1990. Some popular areas such as Waikiki are posting double-digit declines.

The deals soon could get even better.

Toy says the state is being hit hard by the economic crisis in Asia, a region that normally accounts for a third of Hawaii's visitors. Asian visits are off 10% this year, and it's getting worse. In September, the last month for which data are available, Asian visits were down 15%.

Thinking of going? Toy says the best bargains are emerging in Waikiki, a favorite among the Japanese, which has been hit hardest by the tourism slump. Hotel rates there during September were down almost 4%.

Prices also are coming down fast at the larger chain hotels, which relied heavily on Asian business, says Brian Murphy of GoGo Tours, which buys and repackages blocks of hotel rooms.

GoGo's Liberty Travel subsidiary is offering a six-night stay at the Hyatt on Kauai for $1,557 per person, including airfare, rental car, breakfasts and a 50% discount on day care. That's about $250 less than it would have cost last year, he says.

Phillip Gordon, finance chief at Globus & Cosmos, the world's largest tour operator, says this winter is the first time in a long time that his company's Hawaii trips cost no more, per person, than its trips on the mainland USA.

Cosmos is offering its 15-day Splendours of the Hawaiian Islands tour, which includes stays on Oahu, Kauai and Maui, for $1,169 per person, down 2.4% from last year.