Our friends at the Bishop Museum continue to holomua (progress) with digitizing nūpepa Hawaiʻi kahiko (historical Hawaiian newspapers), and recently welcomed Congressman Ed Case to visit them at work. Congressman Case shared his understanding of the many possibilities unlocked by digitizing old newspapers.

One recent treasure the team uncovered was in an edition of the newspaper Ka Elele Poakolu. In it the team found an acrostic mele by what appears to be Kalākaua (under the pen name T. Affy) informing their readership of the work it takes to put out a newspaper.

Another issue of the many being digitized: Ke Au Hou, which as its name suggests is focused on a new era. Featured on its front page is Bishop Museum itself, which is, as stated in the article, “one of the first stone buildings of this era.” Innovation comes full circle with this project, as we support the perpetuation of traditional knowledge through new technology.

Chief Brand Officer Kalani Kaʻanāʻanā appeared on KHON2’s “Aloha Authentic” with host Kamaka Pili to discuss the future of tourism and our overall kuleana (responsibility) in it to our home and community.

For Kalani, his kuleana began at home in Kailua and “growing up in a town that’s heavily impacted by tourism even till this day.” He wanted to be a part of the solution and said: “I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to quite literally now lead our efforts in making the changes that I wanted to see.”

Click the following link to watch the full interview.

Clean water is one of our most precious gifts, and core to our identity as Hawaiʻi - land of the life-giving water.

HTA is closely tracking the evolving situation on Oʻahu at Kapūkakī (the ancestral name of Red Hill), is receiving regular updates from state and city officials, and will keep the lines of communication open with the visitor industry and those leading the response.

The Hawaiian cultural value of mālama compels us to do all we can to protect our waters for our health and safety, and for that of future generations.

While there is no immediate threat to the municipal water system, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply is encouraging mindful usage of water. We join them in that call, encouraging the visitor industry to voluntarily take measures to conserve water. We also call upon our visitors to make choices to reduce their water usage.

E mālama i ka wai.

Hawai‘i Tourism USA

Hawai‘i Tourism United States (HTUSA) Public Relations conducted a Virtual Media Blitz in November and secured one-on-one appointments with 20 top-tier media. Discussion topics included mindful travel including Mālama Hawaiʻi as well as HTA’s Destination Management Action Plans (DMAP). In alignment with the mālama theme, HTUSA sponsored the planting of ʻulu trees on behalf of media as a mahalo for their participation in the virtual blitz.

The outlook for U.S. travel in 2022 is shaping up in a promising way with more trips overall and to a more diverse set of destinations. The near-term outlook is also positive, although current COVID-19 and financial concerns will need to be monitored. When asked to list the domestic destinations they most want to visit in 2022, Florida, New York, Las Vegas, California, Hawai‘i and Texas were top among American travelers. Domestic destinations will face more competition again as 23.6 percent of American travelers say they will increase their international travel in 2022.

To promote Hawaiʻi-made products, HTJ worked with the Made in Hawaiʻi Festival which was held from November 10 to 13 at Ala Moana Center. HTJ distributed a press release about the festival’s Instagram livestream event to more than 700 media in Japan, garnering 60 media exposures and 5.1 million impressions. Nearly 4,500 people were able to view the livestream.

HTJ also filmed the events and interviewed 15 local vendors for a video highlighting the festival and further promoting Hawai‘i-made products. The video is in production and will be released in December.

In November, HTJ conducted various seminars and presentations focused on regenerative tourism by showcasing Mālama Hawaiʻi initiatives. In addition to JATA’s Online Travel Mart, HTJ conducted eight seminars to DMOs, university edu-tourism groups, local businesses and the millennial organization POOLO, educating nearly 600 individuals about Mālama Hawai’i.

On the evening of December 8, HTCAN held an event to announce the launch of Air Canada’s Montréal-Honolulu route starting December 11.

With the support of the airline, HTCAN gathered a select group of tour operators, travel trade and consumer media to join them for a Hawai‘i-inspired holiday event to announce the route.

During the event, HTCAN provided a presentation with a general overview of the Hawaiian Islands and Air Canada shared details of the new route. This flight brings Hawai‘i and Eastern Canada closer by servicing not only the Québec market, but also the Atlantic provinces.

Hawai‘i Tourism Oceania joined forces with Hawaiian Airlines and Norwegian Cruise Lines to sponsor Travel Daily’s “Still Standing Celebration” in Sydney on November 30. This publication is the country’s leading travel magazine.

The sellout event saw close to 400 travel industry stakeholders gather for a well-deserved tribute to the travel industry’s survival over the most turbulent period in its history. Travel agents, operator representatives, industry body chiefs and travel executives raised their glasses to the tenacity and spirit of Australian travel.

Guests were greeted by hula dancers and each welcomed with a fresh flower lei. In addition to uplifting speeches, one lucky travel agent walked away with the grand prize of a trip to Hawai‘i courtesy of Hawaiian Airlines, NCL and The Waikiki Beachcomber by Outrigger. HTO contributed a 2-hour Mālama ka ‘Āina Tour at Kualoa Ranch, which is a matching partner of Outrigger’s Mālama Hawai‘i program.

For the month of December, HTK is carrying out a co-op promotion with Hawaiian Airlines in Korea through 11th Street. 11th Street is the Korean affiliate of Amazon.com and the largest open market online. The promotion site will include videos and information about Mālama Hawai‘i as well as each of the islands easily accessible via Hawaiian Airlines’ inter-island connection. When purchasing a Hawaiian Airlines ticket, a discount coupon of KRW50,000 and a coupon for an 11% discount on hotels in Hawai‘i will be offered.