Working in conjunction with the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA), the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) recently supported Hawai‘i-based fashion designer Micah Kamohoali‘i in the debut of his clothing company, Dezigns by Kamohoali‘i, on the storied catwalks of New York Fashion Week. A Hawai‘i Island native, renowned kapa artist (practicing the traditional skill of fashioning wauke tree bark into fine fabrics), and kumu hula (hula master) of traditional hula school Hālau Nā Kīpu‘upu‘u, Kamohoali‘i proudly represented Hawaiʻi and showcased his styles on September 9 at Sony Hall, presented by Runway 7.

Video courtesy: Hawaiian Airlines 

On September 13, Hawaiian Airlines debuted its new, five-minute in-flight video, “Travel Pono,” on its transpacific flights, sharing with passengers ways they can safely and responsibly enjoy their time in Hawai‘i. The video features five Hawaiian Airlines crewmembers — including a cultural practitioner, and volunteers for search and rescue operations and marine mammal protection — sharing their knowledge of ocean and hiking safety, conservation of endangered species and the environment, and cultural and community best practices.

The “Travel Pono” video is currently screening on the in-flight entertainment systems of Hawaiian Airlines’ wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft and via the wireless streaming function for personal devices on narrow-body Airbus A321neo aircraft.

HTA thanks Hawaiian Airlines for taking a leadership role in educating visitors about how to respect and nurture our people and home for the well-being of our communities throughout the state.

Hawai‘i Tourism USA

A consumer traveler sentiment tracking study released by Destination Analysts in early September revealed that air travel, indoor attractions and restaurants have suffered notable declines in safety perceptions in recent months. The study found that, since early July, perceptions of commercial air travel as safe fell to 37.1% from 51.1%, perceptions of indoor attractions (e.g., museums and aquariums) declined to 44.4% from 59.9%, and perceptions of dining in at restaurants dropped to 52.8% from 67.7%. While Americans are still largely excited to travel in the next 12 months, expectations for leisure travel in the next three months has declined. In total, 71.4% of study respondents said they have a high level of excitement for travel. However, fewer Americans reported planned overnight leisure trips (52.6%, down from 56.7% in August) and planned leisure day trips (43.1%, down from 51.4% in August).

Hawai‘i Tourism USA, also known as the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB), was honored with the distinction of 2021 Domestic Destination Partner of the Year at the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) Global Convention in August. An ASTA convention sponsor, HTUSA conducted a presentation for more than 100 convention attendees, hosted an exhibition at the convention trade show, conducted one-on-one appointments, and attended general sessions and networking events. Held in Chicago from August 23 to 25, the ASTA convention attracted more than 500 retail travel advisors.

As a show of its advocacy for the Support Hawaiʻi project, HTJ presented $3,100 in donor funds to the Polynesian Voyaging Society at an August 2 donation event. A report page for the event was created on allhawaii.jp and included a mahalo message from Polynesian Voyaging Society staff to donors.

A webinar hosted by the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA) is one of six in a new Canadian travel-trade training campaign. NaHHA’s webinar, which shares a deep explanation of the Hawaiian cultural value mālama, can be viewed on a dedicated website created by Canada-based incentives and rates info hub Spoiled Agent through the campaign’s end in January 2022. NaHHA’s live webinar presentation drew 40 attendees on Zoom and 137 on Facebook Live.

Hawai‘i Tourism Oceania (HTO) continues to introduce concepts of the Mālama Hawai‘i campaign into the Australia/New Zealand market, primarily through its social media following and in line with brand messaging aligned to HTA’s regenerative tourism approach. HTO’s Mālama Hawai‘i messaging is being well-received, showing engagement and reach among the Australia/New Zealand market’s top posts.

From June through August, HTK partnered with Yongin-based indoor-outdoor water park Emerald Resort Caribbean Bay on a summer promotion as part of an integrated consumer campaign designed to inspire Korean travelers to keep Hawai‘i top of mind. The campaign, which consisted of three offline and online consumer events, also highlighted responsible travel via Mālama Hawai‘i videos and localized educational messages. The online event drew more than 2,000 participants (generating 880,000 impressions and including a mobile app push to 940,000 users). The campaign’s Aloha Photoshoot event attracted participation from over 200 water park guests, while its Instagram Sweepstakes generated more than 10,500 likes and 100,000 impressions.