Hawaii Speaks: The Industry Strikes Back April 23, 2009
Even as the Aloha State celebrates its 50th anniversary and native son Barack Obama ascended to presidency, the economic downturn, coupled with long tail of the AIG Effect, is shedding gloom on the Island Paradise. Governor Linda Lingle and Hawaiian tourism leaders, from Outrigger's Robert Solomon to Ronald Williams of Atlantis Submarines, tell their story.
Linda Lingle Governor, Hawaii
While we understand the need for balance, accountability, and transparency in programs supported by government funding, tourism is an industry that employs many workers who have lost—and will continue to lose—their jobs as travel declines.
Excerpted from letter to president Obama, signed by the governor and 95 government and industry leaders.
James R. "Duke" Aiona, Jr. Lieutenant Governor, Hawaii
Hawaii is a great place to do business, and we believe the tone coming out of Washington should be reflective of that. Businesses come to Hawaii for more than our beautiful beaches and spirit of aloha. They come to Hawaii to promote creativity and innovation, as well as to strengthen business relationships and performance.
Robert L. Solomon Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer Outrigger Enterprises Group
The jawboning from Washington and the backpedaling by corporate clients, especially public companies and bailout recipients, will eventually subside because they are equally ill-founded and have unintended and painfully adverse consequences. Fear-mongering and defensive posturing are also indiscriminate and, one way or another, they affect almost all competitive and desirable destinations. Once we're past the panic stage, Hawaii's enduring appeal and strong value proposition will help win back our fair share of this important market segment. For those planners and clients who take the time to evaluate the current situation on the merits, it should be very clear that the values in Hawaii are better than ever, and the quality of the experience we can provide for meeting participants and families are more relevant than ever.
Revell Newton Complex Director of Sales & Marketing Starwood Hotels & Resorts Waikiki
With the exceptional meeting venues offered at Starwood's four Waikiki properties, meetings, convention, and incentive travel has never been more important to help support the over-3,000 jobs for our Starwood associates. Planners will find excellent price points in what our hotels are offering for both long- and short-term group leads if they compare our pricing with overseas destinations, while keeping their spending dollars in the U.S. Starwood Waikiki truly offers an unmatched value as our resorts set the bar higher with $750 million in renovations and updates, while offering the best locations on the beach combined with a dedicated staff of travel professionals.
Ed Hubennette Vice president, North Asia, Hawaii, and South Pacific Marriott International
Since tourism is Hawaii's number-one industry, the recent cancellations of meetings have significantly impacted people's livelihood and the state's economy. That is why it is critical to attract and retain meeting groups, not only for Marriott's resorts, but to re energize our visitor industry. During our recent 45-day, cross-country Marriott's Spirit of Aloha promotional tour, we heard from customers on how they want good meeting deals. We have responded with a 10-percent rebate through 2010, as well as an appeal to president Obama to support our meetings and convention industry, to try to keep meetings alive in Hawaii.
Joe Davis General Manager Hawaii Convention Center
With the global economic crisis taking its toll, companies are changing the very essence of how they conduct business, especially with meetings, an industry critical to stimulating economies.
Now, more than ever, meetings need to be relevant and in locations that bring more to the picture. Hawaii can help. For example, in the key area of sustainability, Hawaii offers a living laboratory for new applications of alternative energy—wind, solar, ocean, geothermal.
It's proven our location not only reaches across the Pacific Rim, bringing together diverse groups, bridging communication gaps, building membership interest, it also offers easy access to business centers in Asia and Europe, attracting international participants and boosting attendance. We call it the Hawaii advantage. The vibrant, cosmopolitan city of Honolulu, the economic hub and capitol of the state, offers a solution easily distinguishing it from others around the globe.
Hawaii provides cultural diversity, technology, productivity, destination appeal and added value, industry resources, competitive pricing, value of facility and customer service. The result is effortless information sharing and application process for international constituents who may never have attended a U.S.-based meeting. Also, since it's a meeting in Hawaii—where Pacific Rim cultures blend with ease—attendance from Asian countries has been proven to increase because Hawaii offers an atmosphere conducive to comfortable business introductions that lead to successful and enduring collaborations."
Mark Dunkerley President & CEO Hawaiian Airlines
If the economy is teaching us anything, it's that we continually need to plan ahead to improve our odds of maintaining business success. Meetings and conventions are essential to the movement of commerce and ideas in today's world and to finding solutions to staid methods of doing business. This is not a time to hunker down and wait for others to move the economy forward. This is a time for action, and taking part in conventions and business conferences is a time-honored strategy to help achieve long-term success.
John Monahan President & CEO Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau
Meetings are vital to Hawaii's economic wellbeing because they impact such a broad cross-section of businesses within our visitor industry. Hawaii is the ultimate dual-use destination, meaning groups come here and accomplish their business objectives but then many attendees extend their stay to enjoy Hawaii's restorative benefits and diversity of activities that highlight our culture, history, and outdoor beauty. The dollars they spend go far beyond our resorts, to deep into our communities. HVCB places such high value on the meetings industry that we have created a special Added Value Resource Center at BusinessAloha.com to help address the challenges of today's economy and make a Hawaii meeting more cost-efficient for both the host organization and attendees.
Jerry Gibson VP & Area Director Hilton Hawaii
Meetings are a direct lifeline to the economic viability of Hawaii. Besides the obvious impact of meetings' direct benefits to Hawaii—with the generation of hotel room, airline, tax, and services revenue directly related to the meeting—there is the larger indirect benefit to the state, in additional visitor spending on activities, shopping, and dining. A citywide like the last visit in 2007 by the American Association of Orthodontists generated $40 million in visitor spending for Hawaii. Meetings also expose Hawaii to customers who also become leisure guests, who return with their families.
Ronald Williams President & CEO Atlantis Submarines
The business produced by meetings and conventions is essential to Hawaii's activities and attractions industry. Participants come here for a conference, but in their free time they want to experience the destination. We show them the beauty of Hawaii's marine life and why it's so important to protect our undersea environment. That's a key benefit to scheduling business meetings and conventions in Hawaii and other destinations worldwide. The participants gain a greater sense of understanding about the various people, cultures, and environments of the world we live in.
Randy Parker Director of Sales and Marketing The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii
Meetings are extremely important to our industry. Groups are our core business, and that being said, we are focusing our efforts in providing as much value as possible to those groups that are still holding meetings, and we are committed to our positioning of being the meetings planner's "Hawaii address." We are confident that with all that the Hawaiian islands have to offer, group business will return.
Atlantis Unveils Individual Incentive Certificates The Atlantis Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas is now offering group planners customizable individual incentive award certificates that can include accommodations, airport transfers and a wide range of dining and entertainment options.
Harrah’s Sticks To Its Formula for Successful Meetings The Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's sales team is continually improving its one-stop-shop model for seven properties that makes the meeting planning process easier for planners.
INCENTIVE HIGHLIGHTS
INCENTIVE NEWSLETTER
Get up-to-date coverage on the latest on industry news, travel, and merchandise!
RSS
