Latest news with #HVCB
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Inside the $6 million marketing campaign aimed at Maui's tourism recovery
Christine Hitt With Maui's visitor arrivals still 21% below prepandemic levels, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) and the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) released details about a new $6 million marketing campaign aimed at supporting Maui's tourism recovery. The campaign features a national wholesaler program, an initiative that prioritizes selling Maui vacation packages, and doing so through partnerships with ALG/Apple Vacations, Classic Vacations, Costco Travel, Pleasant Holidays, Delta Vacations and Expedia. The wholesaler program requires exclusive consumer offers of a minimum 20% in value (such as fifth night free) to incentivize bookings. Wholesalers need to provide a 1:1 match of the HTA's investment, meaning they essentially double their marketing budget with the HTA's support. Marketing efforts include targeted campaigns showcasing Maui to specific destinations through media, social media and PR efforts. Additionally, the HVCB will be "amplifying its Hawaii Special Offers Program with conversion-focused paid and owned media and supporting the Maui Nui Kakou Multi-Market initiative," which includes a "Maui Week" campaign airing across 15 key markets. The "Maui Week" campaign is a takeover of lifestyle morning shows across the continental U.S. that spotlights five Maui properties over five days. Some of the key markets include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Portland. "It is indeed a privilege to lead this effort alongside our government partners, the visitor industry, and community voices," HVCB CEO Aaron Sala said in a news release. "With urgency and clear intention, we are working to deliver meaningful results for Maui's families and local businesses. This campaign is an important initial step in addressing an immediate need. Our larger journey continues — shaping the way we welcome people into relationship with Hawaii in ways that honor both community and place." The campaign was funded by the $6.3 million released by Gov. Josh Green in February for the purpose of boosting Maui's recovery efforts and increasing the number of visitors to the state overall.
Travel Daily News
4 days ago
- Business
- Travel Daily News
$6m. Maui marketing campaign top accelerate island's tourism recovery
Hawai'i launches $6m. Maui Emergency Marketing Campaign to boost tourism recovery, support local businesses, preserve jobs, and restore visitor confidence. HONOLULU – A coordinated statewide effort to support Maui's tourism recovery is now underway, with the launch of a $6 million Maui Emergency Marketing Campaign funded by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA). Spearheaded by the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB), this vital campaign was made possible through the leadership of Governor Josh Green, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director James Kunane Tokioka, and HTA Interim President and CEO Caroline Anderson. With Maui's visitor arrivals still 21% below pre-pandemic levels, the initiative addresses critical recovery needs that impact the entire state's visitor industry ecosystem. By focusing efforts where they are needed most, the campaign will stimulate travel demand as early as this summer and through the end of 2025 – supporting local businesses, preserving jobs, and restoring visitor confidence in the state's most important economic driver. The initiative represents an alignment of public and private sector partners, including national travel wholesalers, airlines, Hawai'i hotels, and media partners. 'It is indeed a privilege to lead this effort alongside our government partners, the visitor industry, and community voices,' said Dr. Aaron J. Salā, president and CEO at HVCB. 'With urgency and clear intention, we are working to deliver meaningful results for Maui's families and local businesses. This campaign is an important initial step in addressing an immediate need. Our larger journey continues – shaping the way we welcome people into relationship with Hawai'i in ways that honor both community and place.' Under HTA's direction, the campaign features: National Wholesaler Program: An aggressive initiative selling Hawai'i vacation packages that prioritize Maui through partnerships with ALG/Apple Vacations, Classic Vacations, Costco Travel, Delta Vacations, Expedia, and Pleasant Holidays. Targeted Media Campaigns: Strategic destination marketing initiatives showcasing Maui's distinct offerings through media, social campaigns, and public relations efforts. In parallel, HVCB is also amplifying its Hawai'i Special Offers Program with conversion-focused paid and owned media, and supporting the Maui Nui Kākou Multi-Market initiative – a cross-brand collaboration with hotels, airlines, and Nexstar Media, including a high-profile 'Maui Week' campaign airing nationally across 15 key markets. The Hawai'i Special Offers Program, which includes vetted hotel, activity, and ground transportation offers, gains additional momentum through HTA's partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, extending reach into Hawai'i's priority visitor market. 'We are grateful to Governor Green for releasing funds that made the Maui Emergency Marketing Campaign possible,' said Caroline Anderson, interim president and CEO of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. 'This campaign, together with HTA's partnership with the L.A. Rams, represents a unified effort across government leadership, tourism partners, and national brands to support Maui's recovery. It is a vital step toward restoring confidence in travel to Maui, revitalizing local businesses, and preserving jobs for Maui's communities.' Businesses statewide are encouraged to participate in the campaign through wholesaler collaborations or by contributing offers to the Hawai'i Special Offers Program.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Airline outlook weakens as Hawaii heads into peak summer travel season
The outlook for airline seats into Hawaii softened this month with losses widening into the peak summer tourism season, exacerbating concerns that demand for leisure travel will hold amid worldwide economic uncertainty. Jeffrey Eslinger, senior director of market insights for the Hawai 'i Visitors and Convention Bureau, said overall capacity and flight numbers at the moment from the U.S. continent to Hawaii show a slight increase. Still, Eslinger said, 'With only a modest international recovery, Hawaii will remain highly reliant on U.S. mainland visitors. Airlines have strategically front-loaded capacity cuts to adjust for weaker early demand.' Total U.S. trans-Pacific airline seats for April were projected to rise 1 % from the same period in 2024, while May seats were expected to rise 4 %, according to HVCB data. However, the data shows that U.S. trans-Pacific airline seats for June are forecast to fall 7 % from the same month in 2024 and to drop 8 % in July and 8 % in August. International airline seats for April are up 17 % from April 2024, led by increases from Hawaiian Airlines, according to HVCB data. But there are sharp drops in May and June, with seats down 10 % and 13 %, respectively. Eslinger said stabilization of the international market is expected by July and August, which 'show recovery, with modest gains in actual seats and flights, although percentages remain negative due to earlier high baselines.' So despite stronger international growth in April, Eslinger added that 'decreased international seats in May and June will likely reduce international arrivals during the early summer peak travel season. This decline will be particularly noticeable on Oahu, especially in Waikiki.' The seat declines in some markets hold appeal for some Hawaii residents who were concerned about overtourism before the COVID-19 pandemic and fear recovering visitor arrivals will strain the state's carrying capacity. At the same time, air seat downturns are worrisome to those who seek to grow Hawaii's tourism-dependent economy as the state's distance from visitor source markets makes it primarily a fly-to destination. In 2024, more than 9.5 million visitors out of more than 10.2 million came by air, comprising about 93 % of Hawaii's visitor arrivals, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Through March of this year, 98 % of Hawaii's arrivals came by air. Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawai 'i Hotel Alliance, said the drop in air seats is concerning, especially when combined with an inconsistent hotel booking pace, which is showing signs of weakness from June 15 to Aug. 15. 'Into June and July, we are down 35 % to 40 % in pockets across the state, ' Gibson said. He said consumers are booking travel to Hawaii closer into their trips ; however, now is the time that hoteliers should start seeing some pick-up. Instead, 'we don't see anything that's consistent, and for good reason.' 'People are waiting to decide if they should travel because of the tariffs and the economy, ' Gibson said. 'We also don't have the base government travel. We still don't have California, our breadbasket, (recovered ) after the massive fire (there ).' GIBSON SAID another concern is that international visitor arrivals have not recovered to a level to offset softening from U.S. markets. 'Japan isn't coming back for summer in the way that we had hoped. Canadian business is down, Oceania is down, ' he said. 'Every segment that we normally enjoy welcoming is down, and that's going to impact your pace.' Eslinger said changing school calendars also are affecting summer travel to Hawaii. 'The true summer now is literally the month of July with a couple of weeks in June or August, ' he said. 'My nephew in Scottsdale (Arizona ) goes back to school the first week of August.' Gibson said inconsistent marketing also is contributing to Hawaii's softening tourism, especially when competitive destinations like Mexico are vying for the U.S. market by offering those on tourist visas perks such as refunding some of the value added tax, which applies to most goods and services. Keith Vieira, principal of KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said problems at the Hawai 'i Tourism Authority have led to a drop in destination marketing just when marketing is needed to drive summer demand. 'The industry is funding marketing, but we don't have destination marketing and that needs to happen soon, ' Vieira said. 'If we miss the window, the industry unfortunately tends to do a lot of short-term marketing because you are trying to drive your business in the short run, and any time you do that, you aren't putting the necessary dollars in the long run.' Gibson said the shorter booking window has bought Hawaii tourism a little more time to appeal to consumers, and he's hopeful HVCB will soon launch a Maui recovery campaign since Gov. Josh Green released $6.3 million in reserve funding earlier to support it. 'They had been working on it for April but there were some hiccups there, and now they are working to get it out hopefully by the end of May, ' he said. 'It's geared to Maui because of the troubles that they have had (since the August 2023 wildfires ).' Chris Kam, president and chief operating officer of the strategic research firm Omnitrak, said a robust marketing effort could still save the day. However, Kam said, 'U.S. consumer confidence is still falling, but it appears that the world has reached a point where leisure travel is considered a vital part of life. People will go on trips because they need travel to maintain a quality of life.' He opined that the desire mixed with all the uncertainty is what has led to an uneven booking cycle with some weeks up and others down. 'One thing that happens during periods of economic uncertainty is that people will start traveling closer to home. When you are an island destination dependent on air travel, that's a challenge, ' Kam said. Vieira said it's important to act fast in addressing the downturn because a strong summer is needed to build momentum to carry Hawaii tourism throughout the year. 'If you miss summer, you miss the year, ' he said. And, if demand drops too much, Vieira said Hawaii runs the risk of losing more air seats. SOUTHWEST CHIEF Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said, 'Aircraft, by definition, are mobile, and so Hawaii, if demand goes up or down, we move aircraft in or out. We are well above our entry point but below our peak. 'There are probably 30 cities we can say that about. It's down from 2022 levels but way above 2018. As demand for travel and Hawaii recovers, we'll add more planes back, ' he said. Watterson said Southwest's seats to Hawaii have stabilized since April, when there was 'a small reduction in interisland and a change of mainland flying from daytime to red-eye.' Watterson said the changes have left Southwest just shy of 700 employees in Hawaii and 'hiring for normal turnover.' 'We are down slightly from the (employee ) peak. We have less flying than we did a few years ago because demand for travel to Hawaii is down (from that period ), ' he said. 'With reduced flying, we need less people.' While Hawaiian and Alaska airlines are still making changes in the aftermath of their merger, overall seats to Hawaii are slightly up. Still, they, along with other carriers in the market including Southwest, recently pulled their full-year guidance, a forecast of earnings or financial performance, due to macroeconomic uncertainty. 'In the first nine months of this year (January to September ), Hawaiian and Alaska together will offer 1.45 % more seats between Hawaii and the U.S. Continent, compared to our airlines' separate operations during the same period last year, ' Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson Alex Da Silva said via email. 'We are still finalizing our schedule for the last quarter of 2025.' Alaska Airlines' combination with Hawaiian Airlines has made it the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, with over 40 % of the Hawaii-U.S. mainland seat share. 'To support our growth, we are hiring 500 Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants in 2025—our largest recruiting effort in recent years—in addition to pilots, mechanics, and positions in airport operations in Hawaii, ' Da Silva said. 'Today we have about 2, 100 flight attendants, out of a Hawaiian Airlines workforce exceeding 7, 000 people.' He noted that Hawaiian is recruiting for 30 to 40 flight attendants who can also speak Korean and /or Japanese to staff the airline's international flights. Hawaiian Airlines daily nonstop Seattle-Narita serv ice began last week ; it will be followed by Seattle-Incheon service Sept. 12, Da Silva said.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Latest tourism agency allegations draw varied responses
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @ Visitors took in the sights Wednesday aboard an E Noa Tours double-decker bus on Royal Hawaiian Avenue in Waikiki. GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE @ Visitors took in the sights Wednesday aboard an E Noa Tours double-decker bus on Royal Hawaiian Avenue in Waikiki. It is unclear how the Hawai 'i Tourism Authority board will deal with concerns over late payments to contractors and state probes to determine whether the agency committed procurement or ethics violations. But some of those at the center of the allegations that surfaced Tuesday during an HTA Budget, Finance, and Convention Center Standing Committee say they were blindsided, and want the chance set the record straight before the full HTA board responds. David Arakawa, BFCC chair, led discussions Tuesday during the BFCC committee meeting where it was revealed that the state Attorney Gen eral's Office is reviewing whether HTA must pay $780, 000 in interest for millions of dollars in late payments to the Hawai 'i Visitors and Convention Bureau. During the meeting, James Kunane Tokioka, state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism director and HTA board member, disclosed that another pending issue is a possible procurement violation for HTA in relation to a Los Angeles marketing activation executed by HVCB last fall as part of a Maui recovery plan. Arakawa also brought up a potential ethics issue when he questioned why HVCB, the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement's Kilohana and the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association were named as premier partners for the HTA's fall Hawai 'i Tourism Conference when they did not pay sponsorship fees. Arakawa told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he anticipates that the next steps will include gathering more evidence. The BFCC committee will consider a full report before it votes on recommendations to bring to the full board, he said. Don 't miss out on what 's happening ! Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It 's FREE ! Email 28141 Sign Up By clicking to sign up, you agree to Star-Advertiser 's and Google 's and. This form is protected by reCAPTCHA. Aaron J. Sala, HVCB president and CEO, said he was traveling to American Samoa during the Tuesday meeting and could not immediately respond to the Star-Advertiser's request for comment In an email Wednesday to the Star-Advertiser, Sala said HVCB is currently awaiting $9.5 million in payments from HTA for services rendered between October and March. Sala said, 'The delayed payments have accumulated interest at the statutory rate of 9.75 % per annum as specified in the State Comptroller's Memorandum No. 2024-27 (2 December 2024 ) regarding late vendor payments.' He also addressed the fall conference, saying, 'HVCB was a major contributor to this important industry event and was acknowledged as such, but at no point was HVCB asked to provide financial sponsorship for this event.' Tom Mullen, HVCB chief operating officer, addressed the Los Angeles activation. Mullen said HVCB carried out the $1.5 million promotional activation—targeting the critical Southern California market—at the request of HTA and with unanimous approval from the HTA board on July 25. 'HVCB updated our work plan to include this activation and increased our budget accordingly, with the understanding that reimbursement would come from our fiscal year 2026 allocation, ' Mullen said. Mufi Hannemann, HLTA president and CEO, said he was unable to respond to the Star-Advertiser's request for comment Tuesday because he was traveling to American Samoa to meet Gov. Josh Green and others who are commemorating the 125th Flag Day celebration. Hannemann, who is still on the HTA board, stepped down as board chair in March when earlier allegations of Hawai 'i Convention Center discounts surfaced in relation to HLTA and Pacific Century Fellows, which he founded. Current HTA board Chair Todd Apo told the HTA Administrative and Audit Standing Committee on April 7 that he did not 'see an abuse of discretion ' regarding center discounts received by the two nonprofits, and recommended putting the matter 'to bed.' On Wednesday, Hanne-mann addressed the new potential ethics concerns that Arakawa raised about HLTA's status as a premier conference partner in an email to the Star-Advertiser. 'To clarify, the official Hawai 'i Tourism Conference identified these three organizations as 'partners'—not sponsors, it is even listed as such on their website, ' Hannemann said. 'This designation reflected a collaborative effort to support and elevate the conference, not a financial sponsorship.' Hannemann said HLTA played a pivotal role in securing the participation of federal speakers for the event, including Deputy Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism Alex Lasry and Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts president and CEO, and chair of the national Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which Hannemann sits on in his HLTA capacity. 'HLTA was an active member of the Hawai 'i Tourism Conference planning committee, attending weekly meetings and helping to organize several sessions such as the workforce development workshop, ' Hannemann said. 'We also assisted in marketing the conference and its sponsorship opportunities to our membership statewide.' Hannemann noted that HTA's conference website refers to HVCB, Kilohana and HLTA as premier conference partners and the other groups as sponsors. But Arakawa said the sponsorship solicitation sheet refers to paying sponsors, whose contributions ranged from $7, 500 to $2, 500, as partners. He said his inquiry started after the Hawai 'i Hotel Alliance asked how they could become premier conference partners. Arakawa said HTA has not produced written criteria for how it chose its premier conference partners, whose logos were prominently displayed throughout the website and other conference materials. '(The criteria ) is in writing for every other partner except for the three top guys, ' Arakawa said. 'You would think for the top people it would definitely be in writing unless they did not want any criteria that they could be held to or they didn't want anybody else to qualify for it.' Caroline Anderson, interim HTA president and CEO, told the Star-Advertiser on Wednesday that her predecessor, Daniel Naho 'opi 'i, debuted the idea of asking HVCB, Kilohana and HLTA to serve as premier conference partners to expand HTA's reach and to assist with conference planning and programming. 'I know for sure there was no outside pressure to influence that decision, ' she said. 'I felt it was a benefit. We definitely saw our attendance grow from 2023, when it was about 500, to over 600 in 2024. I believe the (premier conference partner ) sessions were well attended. From the comments that I heard, those sessions were really well put together.' Lee-Ann Choy, principal of Pacific Rim Concepts LLC, the HTA contractor that put on the conference, said the premier conference partners encouraged members to attend, and as a result increased exhibitors, who paid $150 to participate in the Tourism Expo. 'I saw many new businesses that I had not seen before, ' she said. HTA board member Stephanie Iona opined that the BFCC meeting shared incorrect information based on her checks of the fall Hawai 'i Tourism Conference website, flyers, discussions with Anderson and her own past experience in event planning. 'As a member of the (BFCC ) committee, I was taken aback by this issue being discussed with no advance information, or I would have done my due diligence to help my colleagues on the committee to be responsible in reporting accurate information to the public, ' Iona said. 'To embarrass any of our valued partners in this manner is not pono, and I am heart broken that this behavior caused them any embarrassment, especially when they are so essential to our success in tourism.' Apo, who was out of town Tuesday, told the Star-Advertiser on Wednesday that he needs a better understanding of the latest issues before determining his next steps as HTA board chair. 'I need to understand the allegations and the history more to determine how we best look at the issues that got raised at the committee meeting yesterday, ' Apo said. 'There is the potential of internal efforts, (state Attorney General's Office ) efforts, (state ) Ethics Commissions efforts, and I just don't know enough about where any of those are. I'm going to work to understand that and to put them in their right places to make sure that we take a really strong look at the situation and get to a resolution in a timely manner.' The State Ethics Commission told the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that investigations are confidential, and it cannot comment if an investigation has been opened. Toni Schwartz, spokesperson for the state Department of the Attorney General, told the Star-Advertiser on Thursday that 'The Department of the Attorney General cannot share legal opinions or advice given to clients.' Apo said that he has had discussions with board members about the need to bifurcate 'looking at and dealing with past issues ' and 'the focus on moving forward.' 'We need to make sure that cleaning up the past doesn't impact our ability to move forward in the way that we need to for the industry, ' he said.
