Hawaii Tourism on the front foot

Hawaii Tourism on the front foot
By Anne Majumdar


Hawaii’s visiting tourism chief has reinforced the message that Australia remains a vital market for the destination and outlined the US island state’s key priorities for the future.

Speaking exclusively with Travel Weekly on a flying visit to Sydney this week, Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) CEO George Szigeti said that Oceania, which included Australia and New Zealand, was hugely important to Hawaii’s ongoing tourism future.

“After Japan and Canada, Oceania is the third biggest departure point for visitors to Hawaii. And 180,000 direct jobs in the islands are supported by this visitation. Our visit here is largely to thank our industry partners and to reaffirm our commitment to Australia as an inbound market to Hawaii,” Szigeti said.

Last year Hawaii welcomed 8.6 million visitors, while arrivals from the Oceania market jumped 7.2% year on year and expenditure from this market rose 5.2%. Average spend from Australians, meanwhile, has hit $260 per day.

While the numbers were encouraging, Szigeti said that increased visitation brought its own challenges. “Ensuring that we retain the unique cultural offering – the Hawaii of old – is hugely important. We must protect that, irrespective of tourism numbers. We have a responsibility to protect Hawaii’s natural resources and to also keep local residents on side in areas popular with tourists – it’s about hitting the happy medium,” Szigeti said.

Achieving greater visitation to the outer islands and gaining a second international designation to the Big Island of Hawaii are also on the agenda for HTA in the near future, Szigeti said. “There are a few political things that need to get done to achieve these goals. Both of which would help alleviate the stress on Oahu [the gateway island to Hawaii].”

Another push for the tourism body is further developing Hawaii’s offering around food and cultural activities to attract more millennial visitors. Social media, app development and VR technology are all part of this quest, Szigeti added.

He concluded by saying that the island state was looking forward to welcoming over 3000 Flight Centre staff for their global gathering in 2017.

 

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

Hawaii Tourism

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