Kaohao or Lanikai

Some location names have been given a different place name than their traditional Hawaiian name for many reasons. Lanikai, in Kailua, Oahu, is an example of a place name that is not the accurate name of this small windward community.

The traditional name for the same area is actually Kaohao. Lanikai was the name given in the 1920’s by developer Charles Frazier because he thought it translated to “heavenly sea” where it literally translates to “sea heaven, marine heaven.”  

The name, Kaohao means “the tying” because it takes its name from the release, after the tying together of two women by Hauna, the Kahu (priest/guardian) to High Chief Lonokamakahiki of Hawaii Island.

The women were tied together after losing at a game of konane (a game similar to checkers) then led to Kahu Hauna’s waa (canoe), then released and rewarded with the feather wealth of the chief.

Source: Fornander’s Collection, IV:314-315 and Pukui, Place Names of Hawaii, 129

The Tourism Legacy Awards Luncheon on Sept. 27, always an inspiring tribute to those who make Hawaii a better place for all of us, will honor surfing, one of Hawaii’s gifts to the world.

Surfing is popular the world over, but the sport of kings began on the waves of our islands. The legendary Duke Kahanamoku, reverently known as the Father of International Surfing, brought the sport to the world’s attention starting a century ago.

Certain to be the most emotional part of the luncheon will be the tribute to two of Hawaii’s modern-day surfing legends, Buffalo Keaulana and George Downing.

Buffalo Keaulana is a champion surfer, career lifeguard, and a mentor to countless youths needing direction on Oahu’s Leeward Coast.

George Downing is a renowned big-wave surfing guru, innovator in the sport, and today, among his many honors, serves as the Contest Director for The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau.

Register for the Hawaii Tourism Conference and join us for the Tourism Legacy Awards luncheon.

A new feature of this year’s Hawaii Tourism Conference is the Global Student Debate, taking place Sept. 27. Local, national and international students will compete at debating issues important to tourism worldwide.

Two high school students will be coming from Hong Kong, through the efforts of Hawaii Tourism Hong Kong (HTHK), in partnership with the Hong Kong Association of Debaters and Hong Kong Chamber of Speech and Debate, the leading debate associations in Hong Kong. The two Hong Kong students have been selected from among the 30 top recognized schools for debate in Hong Kong.

The selection process took four rounds, spread over two weeks. HTHK representatives Yvonne Ma and Alice Mak were part of the judging panel in the final round.

The new GoHawaii mobile app is off to a strong start following its public launch on Aug. 8. The app has been downloaded by users from around the world, who are responding favorably to its combination of destination and safety information for travel to Hawaii.

Created by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, it is the first travel destination app produced by the State of Hawaii. It offers travelers fast, accurate and trustworthy information to reference when exploring the Hawaiian Islands.

A special app feature is the “Locomoji” – Hawaii-inspired emojis that include images of an ukulele, aloha shirt, erupting volcano, shave ice, and Spam musubi, among many others.

The next phase of the app will be unveiled during the Hawaii Tourism Conference and provide several new features including push notification, iBeacon support and 3-D interactive video display.

The GoHawaii app is free and may be downloaded in the Google Play Store and Apple iTunes Store. It is offered in English, German, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Hawaii Tourism Oceania conducted its 2016 Meet Hawaii Roadshow to showcase the Hawaiian Islands and its diverse appeal to travel professionals in New Zealand and Australia.

The Roadshow began in Auckland on Aug. 26 and continued on to Sydney and Melbourne before concluding Aug. 30.  

Numerous Hawaii travel industry partners took part and educated New Zealand and Australia event organizers about Hawaii's vast opportunities to host meetings, conventions and incentive trips.

A special treat was seeing the University of Hawaii play the University of California in Sydney on Aug. 27 to kick off the college football season.

Hawaii Tourism Oceania assisted an influential New Zealand food celebrity and travel writer Annabelle White with her trip to Kauai in May.  

White works in various media platforms. She joins the Radio Live program every Tuesdays and Thursday at 3:30pm, shares her recipes in a TV segment called Foodie Friday on the Breakfast Show of TVNZ, and writes for a bi-weekly lifestyle magazine Woman's Weekly.

For this assignment, Kauai was featured on all of the various media platforms including a two-page spread in Woman's Weekly.

New Zealand’s annual Global Dance & Cheer Games (D+C Games) took place in Waikiki this June.

The D+C Games was an opportunity for young people to utilize their passion for cheering and dance as a way to learn about different cultures and traditions. This event allowed participants to break through cultural barriers and create lifelong friendships.

Through Hawaii Tourism Oceania's efforts, approximately 2,000 participants visited Hawaii for the event. Due to the overwhelming positive response, the D+C Games have selected Hawaii as the future venue for its event in 2017 and 2018. For more details, please click here for a video.

Hawaii Tourism China (HTC) recently participated in the three-day Mobile World Congress 2016, Asia's largest mobile industry event in Shanghai.

The Congress was attended by more than 53,000 participants including executives from the industry's largest and most influential mobile operators, device makers, equipment providers, software companies, and Internet companies, as well as technology-savvy consumers.

HTC held more than 60 meetings with potential attendees and 80 appointments with exhibitors to show what makes Hawaii ideal for exhibitions and conferences.

Hawaii Tourism China launched its social media campaign, 6 Travel-Spirations, to promote the Hawaiian Islands through interactive and engaging digital games targeting millennials.

The games showcase the diversity and the best qualities of each island.

Mafengwo, the top travel User Generated Content provider, and Ctrip, the largest online travel agency in China, actively promoted this campaign.

Within three days of the game being launched on July 27, it had generated 10.26 million page views. So far, the Game has attracted over 30,000 consumers to play and find out about the Hawaiian Islands.

Many thanks to our Hawaii industry partners, including all of the island chapters, Hawaiian Airlines, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts and Chef Roy Yamaguchi, for donating fabulous prizes to support this fabulous promotion.  

The Fullon Hotel & Resorts in Fulong, New Taipei City, is concluding a Hawaii-themed promotion on September 17 that will have run for six weeks.

The promotion complemented Hawaii Tourism Taiwan’s (HTT) Hawaii's Crystal Run.

HTT has collaborated with Fullon Hotel to add influences of Hawaii to enhance the guest experience, including the decoration of the lobby, preparation of the menu, and designing of hotel activities.

Staff members received hula lessons to perform for guests and encourage them to join in.

Additionally, contest contests were held for guests, with prizes that included an ukulele and plane tickets to Hawaii, sponsored by HTT.

Hawaii Tourism Korea (HTK) conducted a Meet Hawaii VIP Weekend Workshop in Songdo, Incheon on July 1-2.

The event was attended by 50 key Korean meetings, conventions and incentive (MCI) agencies and their top corporate partners and families.

The program included the screening of Jurassic World to help showcase Hawaii’s incredible natural beauty, and a presentation by Liz Park, HTK's MCI Sales Manager.

The participants also had a wonderful time at the hula and ukulele classes.

Hawaii Tourism Europe (HTE) partnered with Red Bull in organizing the Red Bull Tri-Islands Triathlon 2016 in Germany, which was attended by more than 7,000 people in late July.

Two winners were awarded with the grand price of a trip sponsored by HTE to the island of Hawaii and attending the Ironman Hawaii in 2017.

The 500 participants swam 1.8 miles from the island of Amrum to Foehr, bicycled 24.9 miles on the island of Foehr, and completed a 6.2-miles run in Sylt. The event was widely covered in the local and regional press and on Red Bull's own channel.

Hawaii Tourism Japan hosted the second annual Hawaii Expo at the retail complex Shibuya Hikarie in Tokyo on July 16-17.

The two-day sales promotion event attracted 14,000 consumers.

With the support of 54 vendors, the event showcased a wide range of Hawaii-inspired activities including hula performances, live music by local artists, cultural workshops, celebrity appearances, foods and crafts, and exhibit booths.

The promotion generated extensive media coverage and elevated awareness about Hawaiian Islands as a desirable destination for travel consumers.