On Thursday, HLTA held its annual Charity Walk Kick Off Breakfast at the 'Alohilani Resort. The event was highlighted by a $5,000 donation from the Enterprise Holdings Foundation for this year's Visitor Industry Charity Walk. New ideas and initiatives were introduced to bolster fundraising and participation efforts for 2020! ​

​Yesterday, HLTA held its 30th Annual Na Po'e Pa'ahana Awards luncheon at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Coral Ballroom. HLTA Chair Mike Jokovich and I had a wonderful afternoon meeting all of our nominees, finalists, and our awardees. As always, the stories that arise during Na Po'e are heart warming and at times incredible! As we close the books on this event each year, I get to reflect on not only the rich diversity of our industry's workforce, but also the quality of the people who comprise it. They are all, truly, no ka oi.

On January 14, HLTA will be hosting its first government affairs event of the year, a talk story session with state legislators. We will be meeting with legislators from both chambers, including Senate President Ron Kouchi, Senate Tourism Chair Glenn Wakai, Senate Transportation Chair Lorraine Inouye, and Senator Kurt Fevella. From the House of Representatives, we will be joined by Vice Speaker Mark Nakashima, Tourism Chair Richard Onishi, Representative Scot Matayoshi, Representative John Mizuno and Representative Val Okimoto . 

While we have enjoyed several key legislative victories in recent memory (TVRs, CONAM, Real Property Tax Rate carve outs or bed & breakfast properties), we must not become complacent. There are a number of key issues that are looking over the entire tourism industry and we must do our best to make our case to our legislators. This meeting will be a key first step in connecting with them this year and learning more about their priorities for the upcoming legislative session. ​

​Please join us for our Holidays In Paradise (HIP) Christmas Party on Thursday, December 5th. We have a fun evening planned as Grammy-nominated Josh Tatofi will be performing. You can see a video of Josh performing Henehene Kou Aka in the video below.

Holidays In Paradise will be held at Duke's Waikiki in the Outrigger Waikiki Beach Resort on their Lower Patio. The restaurant will offer validated parking for up to three (3) hours at the Ohana East. With validation, parking will cost $6 for three hours.

Please bring a gift card with a minimum denomination of $20 for entry in our lucky draw. Gift cards will be donated to a local nonprofit to benefit those in need during this holiday season.​

​Congratulations to longtime HLTA member Hawaiian Airlines which celebrated its 90th anniversary last week. In recognition of this milestone, the local airline replicated their historic 1929 flight by flying from Honolulu to Hilo with a short stop on Maui. The flight attendants who staffed the flight donned vintage uniforms from the 1960’s through the 1990’s.
 
Hawaiian Airlines also held the Great Hawaiian Plane Pull during which 68 teams of 12 worked together to pull a Boeing 717. The event raised $33,000 for the airline’s environmental nonprofit partner, Sustainable Coastlines Hawai'i.

Mahalo, Hawaiian Airlines, and best wishes for 90 more successful years. ​

​Yesterday, Ho‘ōla Nā Pua, in partnership with HLTA and Hawai'i Tourism Authority, hosted a free symposium called “Campaign for a Safer Community: Taking a Stand Against Trafficking” to better equip local tourism industry professionals with the skills and knowledge needed to recognize and report suspected instances of human trafficking. It included three sessions that covered topics including how to recognize trafficking and exploitation, how to efficiently report suspected human trafficking, and how our tourism industry can be a key partner in making our communities safer places to live. HTA’s funding is also making it possible for the symposium to be held on Maui, Hawaii Island and Kauai in the next few days. 

As I said in my closing remarks at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, sex trafficking is a problem that affects entire communities, not just our industry. That being said, our hoteliers are on the front lines and, it is important that we be proactive about addressing this crime. It is illegal. It is indecent. And, it is immoral.

If you suspect that someone is being victimized by human traffickers, in addition to notifying local enforcement authorities, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888.

​It is the final week to submit entries for the 30th Annual Na Po'e Pa'ahana Awards. The cutoff date has been pushed to midnight of November 8. Don't miss this opportunity to recognize and honor the front-line employees who truly are the heart and soul of our Hawai'i's tourism industry. 

To submit an entry, please click here.

​Earlier this year, the Hawai'i Agriculture Foundation (HAF) launched its Young Entrepreneurs program for local students in culinary and agricultural pathways. Middle and high school students from around the state worked with their teachers to formulate business plans around a product that they had created. Yesterday, these students had the chance to sell their creations at the Made in Hawai'i Marketplace for Kids by Kids which was held as part of Hawai'i Food and Wine Festival's Keiki in the Kitchen at Victoria Ward Park.

As we have with other events, HLTA and the Hawai'i Tourism Authority have made it a goal to show support for tourism-related activities that help our youth. I represented HTA at an HAF teacher training session earlier to speak in support of the culinary business and agri-tourism and expressed our support to include neighbor island participation in these kinds of opportunities on O'ahu. In keeping with this, HTA sponsored the travel expenses for neighbor island students and teachers from Maui and Hawaii Island to participate in yesterday's event. HTA President & CEO Chris Tatum and I joined Hawai'i Agricultural Foundation Executive Director Denise Yamaguchi yesterday to tour the free, outdoor event in Kaka’ako and met with the students and educators who were part of yesterday’s festivities. 

We were incredibly impressed not only by the ono food items, but also the attention to detail and creativity of the marketing and packaging of each school's product and by the variety of items that they brought to the marketplace. Our hats off to all of the students and their teachers for a job well done and we look forward to next year’s event. 

The following schools were in attendance: Olomana School; Pearl City High School; Roosevelt High School; Konawaena High School; Leilehua High School; Baldwin High School; Aiea High School; Kaiser High School; Waipahu High School; Farrington High School; 'Ilima Intermediate School; and Waipahu Intermediate School.

On Saturday evening, HLTA members descended upon the Makai Pool and Naupaka Grille to enjoy our first ever Tailgate by the Sea. In addition to an amazing sunset and delicious food, multiple TVs were set up for our members to cheer on the UH Warrior football team as they took on Air Force.
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Last night, I attended a mahalo reception that the Samaritan Counseling Center of Hawaii hosted for their supporters. The organization, which provides counseling at little to no cost to people in need, is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary. In the time since their establishment, the Samaritan Counseling Center has helped more than 8,000 people improve their well-being and have facilitated nearly 74,000 hours of counseling and compassionate care.

Congratulations and mahalo to the Samaritan Counseling Center of Hawaii, their staff, and all of their supporters on 30 outstanding years of service.

​The Los Angeles Clippers were in Honolulu where they have held their preseason training camp for the past three years. There has been extensive coverage of the team's practice and play over the past week against the Houston Rockets and the Shanghai Sharks but I want to share with you some of the things that the Clippers have been doing off the court with Hawaii Tourism’s assistance.

A while back, the Clippers asked for our help in identifying a local public school that could benefit from a charitable donation from the organization. After hearing the Clippers' criteria, I immediately thought of Central Middle School and suggested them as an ideal fit. Last week Friday, I joined Central Middle School Principal Anne Marie Murphy and LA Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker as they unveiled a new technology and innovation hub at the Honolulu middle school. The team donated iPads, virtual reality headsets, and 3D printers that will surely help to prepare Central Middle School's students for the hi-tech job market of today.

If this wasn't enough, the Clippers also decided at the very last minute to rehabilitate the Central Middle School basketball courts. When the team arrived at the school to begin outfitting the tech hub, Zucker noticed the nearby court in disrepair. She and her team made sure that the work to patch pieces of the concrete and install new rims, backboards, and nets were done within 48 hours!

Check out this video that was posted on the Clippers' Facebook page. 

​On Saturday, The Clippers hosted a full day of skills clinics at Klum Gym. Kids ranging from ages 6-14 from around the state all got a chance to hone their skills under the watchful eyes of the Clippers' coaching staff. A special coaches clinic was also conducted. My deepest thanks to the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and their President Chris Tatum for providing us with the funding necessary to invite a large contingent of neighbor island players to O'ahu to reap the benefits of the LA Clippers' skills clinics. HLTA was proud to make arrangements for players from Moloka'i, Lana'i, Maui, Kaua'i, and Hawai'i Island to travel here to take part in this unique opportunity and made sure that all parts of O’ahu were represented at the clinic for the first time.

Last Tuesday, I was invited to the West Maui Community Plan Advisory Committee Meeting by Committee Chair Kai Nishiki and Maui County Council Chair Kelly King to speak on the topic of economic opportunity through innovation and collaboration via the visitor industry both on Maui and throughout the rest of the state. I deem these opportunities so important that, when having discussions centered around tourism management, visitor industry and local stakeholders MUST be at the table.

My presentation focused on eight points that are key to managing tourism that include: contributions through charitable initiatives; community engagement; affordable housing and the adoption and enforcement of local transient vacation rental laws; transportation; environment and natural resources; native Hawaiian culture; homelessness; and tourism strategic plans. 

In closing, I shared some of my experiences and the takeaways that I gleaned while enacting the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve Initiative in the mid-1990's. These range from a willingness to consider all points of view to how to effectively use entrance fees to improve and maintain a specific natural resource. 

I also held a Q&A session, and a positive and meaningful discourse ensued that I enjoyed immensely. ​

Earlier this week, I was invited to visit the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Kukui Center in downtown Honolulu to tour their facilities and meet with some of the programs that are housed in the complex on North Kukui and ‘A‘ala streets. The Kukui Center is the brainchild of the Kukui Children’s Foundation and its founding purpose was to create a center for abused children. The foundation purchased the historic building on the edge of Chinatown and spent more than two years raising funds and renovating to better serve the children and families who would one day utilize the facility. I was in on the ground floor helping to support the opening of the Center when I was Mayor. 

It was such a pleasant surprise to learn that each of the eight organizations that call the Kukui Center home are Visitor Industry Charity Walk participants. These eight include: Family Promise of Hawai'i; Hale Kipa; Hawai'i Immigrant Justice Center; Hawai'i Literacy; Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies; Mediation Center of the Pacific; Leadership in Disabilities and Achievement of Hawai'i; and Kids Hurt Too Hawai'i.

Kids Hurt Too Hawai'i has an especially interesting program called HI Rising. Started in 2018, this program gives paid, work training experience to young adults who are either in the foster care system, about to age out of the foster care system, or a qualified Kids Hurt Too Hawai'i alumni. The participants staff and manage a retail location located in the Kukui Center. Over the course of the program, they are trained in a number of fields including: Computer Literacy; Introduction to Graphic Design; Fundamentals of Marketing; Retail and Personal Finances; Small Business Planning; Merchandising; Customer Service; and Mentoring and Life Skills Development. ​