#Hawaii Tourism Authority

Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund co-founder Hannah Bernard is happy with the successes of her groups on Maui and Hawaiʻi islands, including the scores of volunteers who help to clean up marine debris. The nonprofit educational organization is part of a broad movement to protect endangered species, such as the Hawksbill and green sea turtle, and to take measures to maintain clean coastal waters. Maui Now writer Gary Kubota talks to Bernard about Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund’s successes and future challenges in this People of Maui series.

As part of its destination management kuleana to reinvest funding back into the community, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority announced its support of seven festivals and events occurring this spring on Hawai‘i Island and Kaua‘i.

De Fries said the the limited budget is cause for “extreme concern.” He said that in addition to programs that the HTA supports in communities markets around the world, its funds are also used to support cultural events, festivals, and sporting events.

The most recent Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Survey released Friday surveyed visitors from the U.S. West, U.S. East, Canada, Japan, Oceania, Korea, and China who visited Hawai‘i from October to December 2022. More than 60% of visitors from all markets indicated they were “very likely” to return to Hawai‘i in the next five years, a news release from state DBEDT said.

Marc Togashi, Hawaiʻi Tourism Agency’s vice president of finance, will be leaving the organization Feb. 28 to assume a leadership position at the state Department of Human Resources Development, according to a news release.

Maʻemaʻe (cleanliness, purity) represents the idea that descriptions and portrayals of Hawai‘i should be clean, attractive and pure, and therefore without misrepresentations or inaccuracies.

Maui County hotels led the state in the latest Hotel Performance Report for January 2023, with RevPAR of $429, ADR of $635, and occupancy of 67.6%.

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has released two Requests for Proposals to procure brand management and marketing services for the United States, as well as support services for destination stewardship.

Of those who disagreed that tourism has brought more benefits than problems, the opportunities for improvement include addressing issues such as overcrowding, environmental damage, and no respect for culture/tradition/‘āina. 

In his new role, Nāhoʻopiʻi is responsible for the administrative, fiscal, procurement, and human resources operations of HTA, as well as the management of the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. Nāhoʻopiʻi succeeds Keith Regan who departed HTA in August 2022. 

According to Moniz, the three American Airlines departures from Kahului Airport that were impacted included one flight each to Los Angeles (LAX), Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) and Phoenix (PHX). Those flights are rescheduled to depart early this afternoon.

The Lānaʻi Culture & Heritage Center celebrates the new year with the opening of a virtual audio and visual exhibit that takes visitors on a journey to explore Lānaʻi’s past as a way to better understand the island of today. 

Lahaina Quest keiki and family programs are wrapping up the 2022 schedule with four winter school break sessions celebrating Native Hawaiian food, crafts and technologies of the past. 

Visitor arrivals to Maui were down in October of 2022, compared to the same time in 2019, but visitor spending continues to trend upward.

Maui County hotels led Hawai’i in October 2022, with revenue per available room of $344 and average daily rate of $528. But Maui County’s occupancy was 65.1%, lowest in the state.

One highlight of the report: and East Maui Advisory Group was organized to provide input for the bureau’s East Maui Tourism Management Pilot Program.

Maui’s visitor count and spending were up last month from September 2019. Year-to-date, Maui’s visitor count is still down -5.2% and spending is up +10.6%

After the award of the procurement to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement in June followed by a formal protest from the Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau, both parties have worked collaboratively to find a way forward in partnership.

In August 2022, there were 265,410 visitors to Maui, which is just 3% less than the pre-pandemic numbers in August 2019, but they spent $68 million more.

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has issued a Request for Proposals for strategic visitor education and destination brand marketing and management services for the Japan market.