Hawaii reps provide Maui updates and more in Vancouver

Hawaii regional tourism chiefs and hotel/attraction reps were in Vancouver this week to provide the travel trade media with the latest updates and even a few hula lessons.

While there was no formal presentations, there were plenty of opportunities to hobnob with the Hawaii reps who formed the quick cross-Canada mission, which kicked off in Vancouver. The mid-day rendezvous with the media at Riley’s Steak Lounge was followed by a dinner presentation event for about 100 travel advisors at a hotel ballroom on Vancouver’s waterfront.

The group had made earlier stops in California, and has Toronto next up on the travel schedule, followed by Calgary.

Maui Recovery Ongoing

One subject of relevance was the state of recovery from the wildfires that swept through parts of Maui in August of 2023.

Sherry Duong, the executive director of the Maui Visitors and Convention Bureau, provided valuable updates, indicating that the island is on the road to recovery. Crucially, the many hundreds of hotel rooms that had been occupied by hotel/resort workers have been reopened for guests, and put back online for booking, she said.

These include the Westin Maui, Hyatt Regency Maui, the Royal Lahaina Resort, the Ritz-Carlton Maui and the Kaanapali Beach Resort. Meanwhile, one solution for the displaced hotel workers is to be housed by local residents until permanent homes can be re-established.

Duong also described the “Kokoa for Maui” initiative, a program of volunteerism, donations and employment counselling piloted by Goodwill Hawaii. One successful element of the program has been the participation of hotels to provide conference room space at discounted rates for use by Maui vendors to market their wares. These are vendors who have lost their businesses to the fires or have lost substantial volumes of sales due to the much-reduced tourism traffic to Maui.

These are being presented on a timeline of about once per quarter, said Duong, and another is in the works for the pre-Christmas period.

Other islands in the Hawaii chain have provided assistance by also hosting Maui vendor events. “All the islands are helping, we’re like family,” said Sue Kanoho, the executive director of the Kaua’i Visitors Bureau, and the managing director of the island chapters.

She noted some people on the other islands – Oahu, Kaua’i and Hawaii the Big Island – have also provided valuable assistance by scheduling “staycations” in Maui, thereby providing some much needed revenues to Maui tourism suppliers.

With parts of the Maui’s most popular tourism areas ruined by the fires – principally in the town of Lahaina – tourists have been obligated to search and discover parts of the island “up country” that they may not have known well, said Kanoho.

Executive directors from the other islands in the chain were also present at the event, as were sales managers from Hawaii hotels, resorts, condo properties and attractions.

For example, the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbour in Oahu is in the midst of museum display renovations in preparation for a significant anniversary. In 2025, it will be 80 years since the WWII surrender documents were signed on the decks of the Missouri by U.S. and Japanese government officials and military officers.

Go to www.hawaiitourismauthority.org for more.