2010
THE ISLANDS OF HAWAII
Terrance Lee
RTM 355
4/26/2010
Table of Contents
HISTORY ...............................................................................................................3
PRODUCT/DESTINATIONS ................................................................................4
CUSTOMERS PROFILES .....................................................................................9
CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................10
SUGGESTIONS ...................................................................................................11
WORKS CITED ......................................................................................................12
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HISTORY
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states (August 21, 1959) and is the only state made
up entirely of islands. It occupies most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest
of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. Hawaii's natural
beauty, warm tropical climate, inviting waters and waves, and active volcanoes make it a popular
destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and vulcanologist alike. Due to its mid-Pacific
location, Hawaii has many North American and Asian influences along with a vibrant native
culture. Hawaii has over a million permanent residents along with many visitors and U.S.
military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu located on the island of Oahu.
The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which comprises
hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles. At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight
"main islands" are (from northwest to southeast) Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai,
Kahoolawe, Maui, and Hawaii. The last is by far the largest and is often called "The Big Island"
to avoid confusion with the state as a whole. The archipelago is physiographic and ethnologically
part of the Polynesian sub region of Oceania. Recently, Hawaii has garnered additional attention
as the location where the President, Barack Obama, was born and spent much of his youth.
Obama is the only president to hail from Hawaii.
Hawaii is the only state of the United States:
o not geographically located in North America
o grows coffee
o completely surrounded by water
o entirely an archipelago
o has a royal palace
o does not have a straight line in its state boundary
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PRODUCT/DESTINATIONS
Discover why the six islands of Hawaii are home to treasures unlike any other on earth:
The dramatic cliffs of the Napali Coast on Kauai, vibrant shores of Waikiki Beach on Oahu,
miles of white sands of Papohaku Beach on Molokai, dolphin friendly waters of Hulopoe Bay off
Lanai, summit of Haleakala on Maui, and the primal energy of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
on Hawaii's Big Island. It won’t be easy choosing which island to visit on your first trip to
Hawaii, however, you’ll find there are no wrong answers.
You will likely begin your adventure at Honolulu International Airport on Oahu. This is
Hawaii's major airport and serves as the entry point for most of Hawaii's visitors. All major
domestic carriers and many international carriers serve Oahu. It is not difficult to get to Hawaii
from any airport. There are also direct flights from the U.S. mainland to Maui, Kauai, and
Hawaii's Big Island, but, for the most part, you may need to connect through Oahu to get to the
neighboring islands including Lanai and Molokai.
Breathe deep, smell the fresh plumeria in the air and visit the historic landmarks of
Hawaii to learn about the rich culture of the islands. Explore off-the-beaten-path destinations,
from hidden beaches to small towns that you will not find on a postcard. Learn to surf, snorkel,
or kayak and earn your Hawaiian suntan. Whatever you do, do not forget to go to an authentic
luau where you can get a taste of Hawaiian culture and watch the art of the hula. You will find
the itineraries on Hawaii are endless. From romantic escapades to family fun; from whale
watching to walking on a volcano; you can do it all or you can simply sit back and do nothing.
Explore Hawaii’s six unique islands and you are sure to find your first trip to Hawaii will not be
your last.
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TARGET MARKET
OVERALL
The Hawaii Tourism Authority contracts with five marketing organizations: Hawaii
Visitors & Convention Bureau, Hawaii Tourism Japan, Hawaii Tourism Oceania, Hawaii
Tourism Asia, and Hawaii Tourism Europe to promote Hawaii in the major market areas. These
areas include U.S. East, U.S. West, Japan, Canada, and the other developing international
markets. Of the total leisure marketing budget, over 90 percent of the funds were allocated to
Hawaii’s two largest source markets: North America (U.S. West, U.S. East and Canada) and
Japan.
In response to the challenges faced by Hawaii’s visitor industry, Hawaii Tourism
Authority (HTA) made marketing its top priority in 2009. In June, HTA’s board of directors
allocated 86 percent ($62.4 million) of its FY 2010 total budget to marketing-related initiatives
to help stimulate travel to Hawaii. This includes the establishment of a $10 million marketing
opportunity fund which provides HTA the flexibility to immediately respond and fund activities
that will boost short-term travel to Hawaii. As of October, $7.6 million of the fund has been put
into the marketplace to fund activities in North America, Japan, and Oceania. HTA also
challenged its marketing partners to be more effective and efficient and secure innovative
opportunities to market Hawaii in this changing economic market. Additional focus was placed
on the U.S. West to capitalize on its residents’ propensity to travel to Hawaii and direct flight
access from major cities. Following blitzes in San Francisco, Los Angeles and the Pacific
Northwest, Hawaii saw consecutive increases in overall visitor arrivals from the U.S. West in
May through September; however, this was followed by 17 months of decline. In addition, funds
were used in Japan to stimulate travel during the summer months.
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Following the H1N1 flu outbreak in April, many travelers from Asian countries,
especially Japan, temporarily postponed their travels. A positive indication for travel from Japan
came during the summer and “Silver Week”, a series of national holidays that provide a five-day
respite created by the following Japanese holidays: Respect for the Ages Day which is the 3rd
Monday of September, Autumnal Equinox Day which is astronomically determined, but
typically ends up as September 23, and Kokumin no kyujitsu, which is the day between the two
other holidays in September. Japan Airlines added 31 flights to accommodate travel demand to
Hawaii. Although there was not an immediate spike in visitor arrivals from Korea following the
implementation of the Visa waiver program in 2008, a lift of visa requirements for South Korean
tourists enacted by President Bush, there have been positive indicators this year. Notably,
arrivals have increased 25 percent over 2008 numbers for the period of January – September.
HTA and its marketing contractors, together with visitor industry stakeholders, have worked
diligently to implement their 2009 marketing plans. The HTA will continue to aggressively
pursue opportunities to market Hawaii. In addition to traditional marketing efforts, the HTA
directed its marketing partners to develop innovative, out-of-the-box activities to bring visitors to
the islands. The HTA also implemented educational programs for travel trade industry through
workshops and seminars in order to provide retail agents with up-to-date, compelling and
interesting information in order to sell Hawaii to consumers.
NORTH AMERICAN
North America, including Canada is Hawaii’s largest source market for visitors. With
double-digit declines in the domestic market in 2008 and a grim forecast for 2009 at the
beginning of the year, the HTA directed Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) to
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aggressively increase visitor arrivals to the islands by focusing on specific West Coast cities that
supply the majority of Hawaii’s visitors, communicate messages of Hawaii values and deals in
the marketplace, integrate and improve the gohawaii.com website for efficiency purposes, and
continue the overall Hawaii branding messaging. HVCB’s highlights for the year include the
following: integration of the island chapters and most of HTA’s international marketing
contractor’s websites; creating a consistent marketing message worldwide; and month-long
market blitzes in the San Francisco Bay, greater Los Angeles, and the Pacific Northwest area
markets to capitalize on short-term propensity to travel despite economic turmoil. In the San
Francisco Bay area program, a different island was featured each week on a platform of creative
outdoor advertising, print ads, television programming, a campaign micro site, and Aloha Friday
events (a classic island-style tradition of "work over, hang loose"). Hawaii's music, cuisine, and
Aloha Spirit will be showcased in Aloha Friday Pau Hana Concerts being held at Gordon
Biersch restaurants in San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose. Hawaii's top entertainers will
perform their musical magic as patrons enjoy a special menu of Hawaii-inspired cuisine and the
opportunity to win trips to the Islands. Over 50 media stories were generated with an estimated
27 million responses of viewer’s impressions of Aloha Friday.
The first-ever American Express integrated program was implemented in 2008 which
allows American Express to book your stay in Hawaii in advance, which, in return, allows
Hawaii the ability to measure spending in Hawaii. The American Express integrated marketing
program won numerous awards from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association
International, a Platinum and Gold Award in Web Marketing for their website, a Gold Award in
Web Marketing for the banner ad located on the American Express Tours and Activities website,
and a Silver Award in Advertising Campaign for the integrated campaign. This advertising also
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positively impacted consumers’ intention to travel to Hawaii and their awareness of key brand
attributes. Disney/ABC cross-media marketing program showcased Hawaii across multiple
media channels; on-flight ads; ABC local media channels; abcnews.com; and online video preroll, banners, and brand integrations with the “Stories of Hawaii” campaign. This collaboration
resulted in both national and spot market coverage. Stations in key markets such as Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, and New York featured integrated Hawaii
stories in their locally-produced programming.
CUSTOMERS PROFILES
BUSINESS
The strategy for business marketing is to promote Hawaii as a preferred destination for
business tourism (to attend a meeting, convention, or incentive conference) by increasing
promotional presence and brand identity of the destination on a global basis. In 2009, the Hawaii
Convention Center’s sales and marketing department and the HVCB’s Corporate Meetings and
Incentives Department focused on aggressively branding Hawaii as a business destination for
corporate meetings; expanding sales efforts through collaborative partnerships; increasing leads
and bookings; aligning deployment of staff against need years and booking goals; and increasing
top-of-mind awareness for Hawaii as a business destination.
SPORTS
Recognizing the benefits, Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTC) developed a sports
marketing program designed to increase Hawaii’s sports presence to a globally competitive level
and to facilitate sports business development in Hawaii. In 2009, the HTA’s Sports Marketing
Program included the following: The 2009 NFL Pro Bowl brought in approximately 18,487
visitors, accounting for 28.6 million in visitor spending and 2.9 million in state taxes. The
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Nielsen national rating for the Pro Bowl was 5.4 percent. The HTA is in agreement with the NFL
to extend the Pro Bowl contract another two years with the first game of this new contract being
held in 2011. The golf tournaments, the Mercedes-Benz Championship, Sony Open, and
MasterCard Championship at Hualapai, and SBS Open all resulted in more than 20 hours of
television coverage broadcast nationally during the winter months. The HTA is reviewing its
partnership with the PGA Tour by assessing the structure of the contract and its present value
and relevance in Hawaii’s golf market.
LEISURE
The slogan “The Aloha State isn’t just for romantics; kids love it too” has caught fire.
Hawaii is known for luring honeymooners and anniversary couples but it is a kid’s paradise and
a place for leisure time as well. About 7,627,819 people visited Hawaii in 2007 for leisure time
with an average length of stay of nine days, average party size traveling to was 2.14 people,
independent travelers 59.7%; people not traveling to Hawaii on a package or organized tour.
The highest numbers of visitors for leisure time came in June, July, August, and December. The
least visited months were April, May, September, October, and November.
CONCLUSION
The Hawaii Tourism Authority has put together enormous marketing programs,
campaigns, and incentives to improve the growth of the Japan, Oceania, Asia, Europe, and North
America tourism to Hawaii in the department of Business, Sports and Leisure. From the
information collected through this report, Hawaii has targeted all the correct markets and has
done an outstanding job with following through with their marketing plan. These HTA plans
have boosted tourism numbers early in the 1st quarter of 2010, although there are other markets
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that can be added to the campaigns, the ones that they have focused on have brought in
significant income to Hawaii’s tourism industry.
SUGGESTIONS
The Hawaii Tourism Authority has done an outstanding job in preparing
marketing plans for the 2010 marketing campaigns but there is one market I feel they have failed
to address, college students. I believe the college aged demographic could provided an increase
in revenue to Hawaii tourism if an affordable package was available that focused on the college
student budget. The strategy for college marketing should be similar to the business marketing
campaign. Promote Hawaii as a preferred spring break destination for college tourism by
increasing promotional presence and brand identity of the destination on a college-wide basis.
This can easily be done by having the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) focus on
aggressively branding Hawaii as a college spring break destination for college students
worldwide. HVCB could expand sales efforts through collaborative partnerships, increasing
leads and bookings, aligning deployment of staff against need years and booking goals, and
increasing top-of-mind awareness for Hawaii as a spring break destination. Most college students
would love to visit Hawaii but feel it is financially out of reach. By marking an affordable
package, HVCB could appeal to a fresh new market that would result in return travel bookings
for years to come.
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WORKS CITED
2009 Annual Report. (2009, October 31). Retrieved April 19, 2010, from Hawaii
Tourism Authority:
http://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/documents_upload_path/reports/HTA09
_AR_FINAL.pdf
American Express Tours & Activities. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2010, from
American Express: http://www.hawaiiplanner.com/
Hawaii. (2010, April 1). Retrieved April 19, 2010, from Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii
Sheila. (2009, July 30). Hawaii Facts. Retrieved April 23, 2010, from Go Visit
Hawaii: http://www.govisithawaii.com/2009/07/30/hawaii-fact-28-of-50-howmany-people-visit-hawaii-each-year/
Your First Trip to Hawaii. (2010). Retrieved April 19, 2010, from The Islands of
Hawaii: http://www.gohawaii.com/statewide/discover/first-trip-to-hawaii
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