155 thoughts on “With State Destitute, How Will Hawaii Market Itself?”
Andrea G
First, I really appreciate your e-newsletter. It’s so helpful. Thank you. To answer your question: As you pointed out, tourism is a huge part of Hawaii’s economy and life blood. We travelers want to support Hawaii and enjoy its beauty and her people.
Hire travel consultants from outside the state to provide fresh views and specific input to move Hawaii forward (I know some leading ones who deal with governments, on that scale. They exist.). Give us assurances so we can have a normal vacation there. Right now it’s all roadblocks and contraction. Within safety guidelines, expansive, strategic, innovative, and flexible thinking is what’s needed, not limitation.
Visit Florida faced hurricanes, thus they had issues attracting meetings to the state. So they created a state-issued guarantee for those meeting in Florida. The state of Hawaii might need to think along these equivalent lines, to attract and assure travelers and those wanting to again meet in Hawaii. The same or other virus situations could occur again, so long-term thinking is necessary.
Hopefully, the state of HI can grant the state’s tourism leaders a strong voice and authority in establishing and handling all future policies related to Hawaii’s travel and hospitality. Someone needs to advocate boldly and loudly for the industry at the government level. If the HTA leader stepped down, that means no one is currently doing so. Strong advocacy with marketing assurances will support the residents, their jobs in hospitality/tourism, and the travelers and meetings who want to visit. An authentic, appealing, wise voice of leadership plus strategic actions are needed. We need straightforward communication so we know the state of Hawaii has a workable plan. Not an easy order, but positive steps need to be taken — sooner rather than later.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Andrea.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Tricia
Hawaii is hands-down our favorite vacation spot; however we are truly disappointed that the state’s leadership can’t muster up a plan for the islands to reopen. After changing our Hawaii plans 4 times we finally rerouted to Aruba….they seem to have a solid plan in place which requires pre-travel testing (which I was able to arrange) and an online questionnaire. It seems odd that Hawaii can’t seem to figure this out. Is it because Hawaii is relying on getting federal bail-outs? The lack of leadership is truly astounding…no plan equals no leadership! Thank you for your newsletter.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Tricia.
Thanks for your comment.
Aloha.
JohnW
We blew it by not jumping on this more aggressively at the beginning…should have jumped on the contact tracing and isolating quicker. We had it under control and now we don’t.
We also are paying a big price for the anti mask I can gather in groups folks. Clearly they spread this the most.
Now with todays announcement we have a shot to get this under control.
We are shutdown for two weeks on Oahu starting Thursday
They are going to do aggressive testing and contact tracing.
They will have hotels to isolate those that need it.
This is it folks. We have a shot to get this under control.
While we go through this two weeks we need to come up with a reopening plan that includes realistic testing for tourists and traveling residents alike. We need to not worry about the self rightous “what about my freedoms/ I’m not wearing a mask” people….we don’t need their tourist dollars, there are plenty of good pragmatic tourists that would love to respectfully visit.
We need to look at the long term opening and impact of tourism and not panic and try and get as many people to return as quickly and cheaply as possible just to get the numbers back up.
Open up October 1st, communicate and plan for it.
Colleen
Hi folks,
We love Hawaii, and miss the places and people. We have carefully watched the announcements about reopening. This is difficult for all. One suggestion I have would be to figure out how to market to families who may want a change of scenery since many kids are not yet going back to school, and one (or more parents) are working from home. How awesome would it be to do remote learning and work from Hawaii?
Thanks
Colleen
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Colleen.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Larry N.
We had a trip planned for end of September we have canceled but one house we were renting is keeping 10% of the deposit because we canceled before are last payment was to be made since Hawaii is closed to mainlanders I feel that we should have gotten it all back they are offering a voucher for the 10% amount for us to use at another time. Mahalo
Debbie L
We have been coming to Hawaii every year for about 20 years now. We love it there. We have always found the people so welcoming. However it sure does not seem like it now. I think the current governor has done a horrible job of handling Hawaii’s corona virus problem. People can’t blame Trump….the governors are the ones calling the shots. He fits in well with the other democrat run states. I know this virus is real but the cost of shutting down Hawaii as well as the rest of the country has been beyond devastating. There could have been some sort of testing put in place to be able to travel safely. We had reservations to fly to Hawaii in 3 days…obviously not going to happen. We are praying that we can plan another trip next year. We will come back but NOT if we are mandated to get a vaccine.
Karen M
Part of why young people don’t vacation in Hawaii is because it’s over priced. You can fly just about anywhere in the caribbean for less than Hawaii. Flights, accommodations, food & activities are cheaper everywhere else. Besides that, Caribbean Island people welcome visitors spending their hard earned money. The beaches are just as good & in a lot of cases, the snorkeling is better. I feel less & less welcome in Hawaii in the past 3 trips.
Gary S.
Hawaii will never have to reinvent itself or remarket itself to me…I love it just the way it is. Can’t wait for Covid to be over, so I can return for a visit!!
Richard C
After reading your article I’d question if the HTA is even needed?
It’s a poorly run organization with questionable spending practices and high employee turnover, yet over the past several years Hawaiian tourism has been at record levels.
Take the money budgeted for the HTA use it to help small tourist orientated businesses to reopen.
The only marketing campaign Hawaii will need to successfully reopen is: “Aloha welcome back to Hawaii” Maybe some videos of iconic Hawaiian locations with locals on surf boards, luau’s and scenic views saying “Aloha Welcome Back”.
Where do I need to send my resume for that 300k a year job?
Julie E.
The CDC just lifted their recommendation for a 14 day quarantine for out of the country and out of state travel. Will this change things for Hawaii?
Michelle J.
Not likely. The Mayor of Honolulu just announced this morning that Oahu is back to a mandatory Stay At Home order for at least the next 2 weeks ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
Comments are closed.
Aloha!
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First, I really appreciate your e-newsletter. It’s so helpful. Thank you. To answer your question: As you pointed out, tourism is a huge part of Hawaii’s economy and life blood. We travelers want to support Hawaii and enjoy its beauty and her people.
Hire travel consultants from outside the state to provide fresh views and specific input to move Hawaii forward (I know some leading ones who deal with governments, on that scale. They exist.). Give us assurances so we can have a normal vacation there. Right now it’s all roadblocks and contraction. Within safety guidelines, expansive, strategic, innovative, and flexible thinking is what’s needed, not limitation.
Visit Florida faced hurricanes, thus they had issues attracting meetings to the state. So they created a state-issued guarantee for those meeting in Florida. The state of Hawaii might need to think along these equivalent lines, to attract and assure travelers and those wanting to again meet in Hawaii. The same or other virus situations could occur again, so long-term thinking is necessary.
Hopefully, the state of HI can grant the state’s tourism leaders a strong voice and authority in establishing and handling all future policies related to Hawaii’s travel and hospitality. Someone needs to advocate boldly and loudly for the industry at the government level. If the HTA leader stepped down, that means no one is currently doing so. Strong advocacy with marketing assurances will support the residents, their jobs in hospitality/tourism, and the travelers and meetings who want to visit. An authentic, appealing, wise voice of leadership plus strategic actions are needed. We need straightforward communication so we know the state of Hawaii has a workable plan. Not an easy order, but positive steps need to be taken — sooner rather than later.
Hi Andrea.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Hawaii is hands-down our favorite vacation spot; however we are truly disappointed that the state’s leadership can’t muster up a plan for the islands to reopen. After changing our Hawaii plans 4 times we finally rerouted to Aruba….they seem to have a solid plan in place which requires pre-travel testing (which I was able to arrange) and an online questionnaire. It seems odd that Hawaii can’t seem to figure this out. Is it because Hawaii is relying on getting federal bail-outs? The lack of leadership is truly astounding…no plan equals no leadership! Thank you for your newsletter.
Hi Tricia.
Thanks for your comment.
Aloha.
We blew it by not jumping on this more aggressively at the beginning…should have jumped on the contact tracing and isolating quicker. We had it under control and now we don’t.
We also are paying a big price for the anti mask I can gather in groups folks. Clearly they spread this the most.
Now with todays announcement we have a shot to get this under control.
We are shutdown for two weeks on Oahu starting Thursday
They are going to do aggressive testing and contact tracing.
They will have hotels to isolate those that need it.
This is it folks. We have a shot to get this under control.
While we go through this two weeks we need to come up with a reopening plan that includes realistic testing for tourists and traveling residents alike. We need to not worry about the self rightous “what about my freedoms/ I’m not wearing a mask” people….we don’t need their tourist dollars, there are plenty of good pragmatic tourists that would love to respectfully visit.
We need to look at the long term opening and impact of tourism and not panic and try and get as many people to return as quickly and cheaply as possible just to get the numbers back up.
Open up October 1st, communicate and plan for it.
Hi folks,
We love Hawaii, and miss the places and people. We have carefully watched the announcements about reopening. This is difficult for all. One suggestion I have would be to figure out how to market to families who may want a change of scenery since many kids are not yet going back to school, and one (or more parents) are working from home. How awesome would it be to do remote learning and work from Hawaii?
Thanks
Colleen
Hi Colleen.
Thanks.
Aloha.
We had a trip planned for end of September we have canceled but one house we were renting is keeping 10% of the deposit because we canceled before are last payment was to be made since Hawaii is closed to mainlanders I feel that we should have gotten it all back they are offering a voucher for the 10% amount for us to use at another time. Mahalo
We have been coming to Hawaii every year for about 20 years now. We love it there. We have always found the people so welcoming. However it sure does not seem like it now. I think the current governor has done a horrible job of handling Hawaii’s corona virus problem. People can’t blame Trump….the governors are the ones calling the shots. He fits in well with the other democrat run states. I know this virus is real but the cost of shutting down Hawaii as well as the rest of the country has been beyond devastating. There could have been some sort of testing put in place to be able to travel safely. We had reservations to fly to Hawaii in 3 days…obviously not going to happen. We are praying that we can plan another trip next year. We will come back but NOT if we are mandated to get a vaccine.
Part of why young people don’t vacation in Hawaii is because it’s over priced. You can fly just about anywhere in the caribbean for less than Hawaii. Flights, accommodations, food & activities are cheaper everywhere else. Besides that, Caribbean Island people welcome visitors spending their hard earned money. The beaches are just as good & in a lot of cases, the snorkeling is better. I feel less & less welcome in Hawaii in the past 3 trips.
Hawaii will never have to reinvent itself or remarket itself to me…I love it just the way it is. Can’t wait for Covid to be over, so I can return for a visit!!
After reading your article I’d question if the HTA is even needed?
It’s a poorly run organization with questionable spending practices and high employee turnover, yet over the past several years Hawaiian tourism has been at record levels.
Take the money budgeted for the HTA use it to help small tourist orientated businesses to reopen.
The only marketing campaign Hawaii will need to successfully reopen is: “Aloha welcome back to Hawaii” Maybe some videos of iconic Hawaiian locations with locals on surf boards, luau’s and scenic views saying “Aloha Welcome Back”.
Where do I need to send my resume for that 300k a year job?
The CDC just lifted their recommendation for a 14 day quarantine for out of the country and out of state travel. Will this change things for Hawaii?
Not likely. The Mayor of Honolulu just announced this morning that Oahu is back to a mandatory Stay At Home order for at least the next 2 weeks ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜