This week the state Tourism Authority approved $3.4 million for marketing the Islands in North America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The money came from a $10 million fund for marketing that was set aside last month. With the Hawaii travelers decreasing with loses over double digits compared to previous years, the HTA is looking at anything to bring back the travelers. They plan on promoting Hawaii vacations to the major markets like the West Coast and other key markets. They also announced that the plan to spend around $627,000 to put up ads in major Japanese commuter trains with images of Hawaii. A new market they plan on targeting is New Zealand and Australia with them planning on spending over $20,000. It’s good to see the HTA marketing Hawaii travel to other countries instead of just the US because lately the new arrivals from the mainland US have been really bad and they need to see if they can tap into other areas to bring the state back to life.
With all the bad news and low numbers for Hawaii travel, a top offical for the Pacific Asia Travel Association reminded heads of the Hawaii travel industry that Asia may be what saves you. In his talk he mentioned that it isn’t that bad in Asia as in other places and Asia is very resilent and has been able to overcome major problems and still be able to survive. He said the biggest market he forsees that will increase the about of people taking a Hawaii vacation is from China. He mentioned how China as a whole is weaker but still strong and Hawaii is in a good position to service Chinese visitors because it has experience in dealing with another Asian country in Japan. As a whole what he tried to come across as saying is try to focus on places that still have people traveling than trying to market Hawaii travel to countries where they’re not looking to spend money on a vacation. I myself think that in the coming years we will see a large increase in travelers to Hawaii from China.
With the slagging economy and the real estate market at an all time low, many thought that the new Trump Tower in Waikiki would have a hard time finding buyers but that hasn’t happened due to people from Japan snatching them up. The Trump Tower has 463 luxury suites and half of them have been bought by someone from Japan. Whether it be the location or the fact the Donald Trump’s buildings are so popular, they’ve been a real hit with the Japanese market. In November 2006 the units in the Trump Tower went on sale and within 8 hours they were all sold up for a staggering $700 million. The units ranged from $400,000 to $9 million and the buyers had to put down 20% to reserve their unit. Some of them can back out and not get back their 20% down payment but officials for the Trump Tower expect at least 95% will close on their units. The Trump Tower is expected to be open this fall and should really add to the new look of Waikiki after Outrigger Hotels just recently spent $535 million on the redevelopment of the Waikiki Beach Walk.
This past weekend I got the chance to surf at Waimea Bay and had a blast. Beautiful beach and awesome waves, a great place to visit if you’re able to visit on your next Hawaii vacation. I would like to say I’m good at surfing but I’m far from it. I was able to catch some really nice waves but I also had some major wipeouts. I came home a little bruised and had some aches but I really had a blast. Below is a Youtube video of people wiping out at Waimea Bay like I did.
Over the last couple of years the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center in Waikiki spent over $20 million on a world class theater and night club and had a Las Vegas like show performing almost every night called the Waikiki Nei. The show didn’t do as well as they hoped and they had to shut it down but it now sounds like they have a new show to replace it called Heartbeat Hawaii. The theme for the show is Hawai’i is the world and will focus on Hawai’i as a melting pot and the first show is scheduled for July 17th. The producers of this show have said that this show will night affect the nightclub that is also in the same location. It should be interesting to see if this show works out after they spent a lot of money on Waikiki Nei and it not lasting for more than 6 months.
With less people taking Hawaii vacations this summer Hawaii hotels have had to be creative on attracting visitors to their properties. I recently got a list of some of the deals hotels in Waikiki and other Hawaii islands are offering and posted some of the most interesting ones. One special comes from the Hilton hotels in Hawaii. What they’re offering is money for a special they’re calling the 50 Years of Aloha special which celebrates 50 years of Hawaii statehood. It’s available through Dec. 20 at all four Hilton properties which are the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa in Waikiki, Doubletree Alana Hotel Waikiki and Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa on Maui. What’s included is a $50 resort credit, a fifth night at $50 and for numismatists and two commemorative 2009 Hawaii quarters. Another interesting deal that I found was from the Aston Hotels and Resorts which they call the Vacation Bailout Special. Basically what they’re offering is 40 percent discounts at its 25 hotels around the Hawaiian islands for the travel dates of June 12 to Dec. 21. Aston’s prices run as low as $88 a night at the Aston Maui Lu in Maui and $90 a night at the Aston Waikiki Circle Hotel. If you’re traveling to Hawaii this summer make sure you ask for any specials a hotel may offer because there are plentiful.
Go! Airlines announced yesterday that it will be offering 1,000 $3 fares to help celebrate its 3rd year in operation in Hawaii. Go! Airlines is one of 3 carriers that service Hawaii interisland travel and has positioned itself as a low cost airline and is most famous favor being one of the main reasons Aloha Airlines went out of business. With it being summer travel and a lot of people taking their Hawaii vacations now this is a great marketing ploy by Go! to not only celebrate their third year but also compete with Hawaiian Airlines. This fare is available from traveling now until June 30th and can be booked on their website. If you’re thinking of getting this great fare you better act quickly because who knows how long they will last.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post on how the HTA was going to have their budget cut and in result they would have less marketing dollars. Well it looks like I may have been wrong and the HTA will spend more money on marketing Hawaii travel. Out of their $71 million budget the plan on spending 86% of it on marketing. Their budget for 2010 is $60,000 below the prior year level and has $51.4 million in designated marketing funds and reallocates an additional $10 million into a marketing opportunity fund for emergencies. For each of their major markets, especially on the West Coast, the HTA plans on spending between $700,000 to $1 million. With less people traveling to Hawaii it’s good to see the HTA being proactive in trying to increase the amount of new visitors coming to Hawaii each month.
Next time you take a Hawaii vacation you’ll most likely stay or visit Waikiki, which is located on the island of Oahu. Waikiki is well known for its beaches and hotels and is the place where most people stay while on their Hawaiian vacations. Below is a video of what the Waikiki coast line looks like from a helicopter. Waikiki is filled with tourist year round and is a great place to stay while in Hawaii not only for the beautiful hotels but also because of the beautiful beaches just steps from most of the hotels.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority will cut their ad spending budget by 5 percent from last year due to a budget cutback with a proposed $71 million budget for 2010. Of that $71 million they plan on spending 69 percent of it marketing travel to Hawaii. The reason for the budget cut is because the agency is working with falling revenues from the hotel room tax due to less people staying in Hawaii’s hotel rooms. In the last fiscal year the HTA had $78 million budgeted from that fund. With news that their budget was going to get cut the HTA have been up in arms. They feel now is not the time to cut their budget because they need the money for marketing to help allure people back to Hawaii. This budget is not set in stone yet but I don’t for see them getting much more if any at all.
