Mufi's Message - January 26, 2021

US Travel Webinar

Aloha,

Tomorrow at 8 a.m. HST, the U.S. Travel Association will host a free event which will include President & CEO Roger Dow's annual State of the Travel Industry Address. The speech, which will be broadcast from the National Press Club, is entitled "Refueling the Economy and American Jobs Through Travel" and will cover a bevy of topics including the relief and stimulus priorities for our industry.

As part of the event, USTA will also be unveiling its Power of Travel Platform which will comprehensively detail topics such as advocacy, how to increase our country's global competitiveness, and how we can redefine travel in the coming months and years.

This will be an important event that is free and open to any registrants. Please click here to sign up. ​

State of the State

Like many of you, I watched Gov. Ige's annual State of the State Address. While I had hoped for more in-depth plans and indications for what the future will hold, I could not help but agree with the overall tenor of his message that our recovery period will be long, and we must continue our efforts to work together. Now more than ever it is critical for us all to be striving towards the same goals and a return to normalcy.

While I appreciated Gov. Ige's thoughts on the digital marketplace and the need to seek out innovative ways to recover our economy, I remain steadfast in my belief that tourism is the key to our economic recovery, especially in the short term. We were the first industry to bring health and safety standards to the State for their review and approval, and our people are poised to continue to welcome healthy, tested travelers back to our shores.

We know that the COVID-19 vaccine is finally here and the State is already vaccinating thousands of residents. I am highly optimistic that frontline hotel employees will soon be announced as eligible for vaccination. As this process continues to work itself out, some hoteliers were given a COVID-19 allotment questionnaire. If you have any questions regarding this questionnaire or the process, please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.

Mahalo,
​Mufi