Mufi's Message - August 15, 2020

#AlohaLater Food Distribution

Aloha,

Yesterday morning, HLTA and Aloha Harvest partnered to hold our third food distribution to benefit hospitality workers who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic. More than 100 volunteers showed up first thing in the morning at Aloha Stadium to distribute more than 1,000 food bundles to tourism professionals and their families. 

The event was made possible through funds raised by the #AlohaLater campaign, and I also want to send a special shoutout to both Aloha Harvest for their support as well as Honolulu Disposal Service for supplying us with a dumpster and handling all of the ʻōpala created during the distribution. Kudos to Aloha Stadium for making it possible for us to host such a large event there.

Despite the current uncertainties that we face as an industry, it never ceases to amaze me when I see the men and women of Hawai'i's visitor industry pull together in support of each other. We will undoubtedly get past these trials but, in the meantime, we must continue to support each other through this economic downturn.

Mahalo to our partners

We Are Ready (Too)

On Thursday, hotels on Maui and Hawai'i Island continued our successful media campaign and held We Are Ready Day tours to demonstrate to local elected officials and members of the press that our industry is prepared for the eventuality that tourism will return, and that we will once again welcome visitors to our islands. A couple of weeks ago we debuted the program here on O'ahu. 

On Hawai'i Island, the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, the Fairmont Orchid, and the Hilton Grand Vacations Bay Club each opened their doors to the media and government officials. Mahalo to the following individuals who were able to attend:

House Tourism Chair Richard Onishi
Deputy Managing Director Barbara Kossow
Hawai'i County Councilmember Tim Richards

On the Valley Isle, the Four Seasons Resort Maui and the Wailea Beach Marriott each sponsored a tour of their properties for Maui Mayor Mike Victorino, Senator Kalani English, and Senator Gilbert Keith-Agaran- as well as members of the press.

Kudos to our neighbor island partners for facilitating and hosting great events and really highlighting the lengths to which our local hotels are going to keep both employees and guests safe. This will be critical in restoring faith in our industry and is key to our overall recovery.

This initiative also strengthens my assertion that resort bubbles are a priority of HLTA as I have been espousing. Our objective is to attempt to kick it off successfully on the neighbor islands. We applaud both Mayor Kawakami and Mayor Victorino for being supportive of the concept! 

Please have a restful and safe weekend with your 'ohana.

Mahalo,
​-Mufi