Mufi's Message - March 1, 2021

Advocacy 101

Aloha!

HLTA's Restaurant, Food & Beverage and Agricultural Committee will hold the second episode of its inaugural webinar series tomorrow at 4 p.m.

This free event entitled, Advocacy 101, will explore how a critical part of Hawai‘i’s hospitality industry can work together to become a stronger voice and resource of information for both our policy makers and the community as a whole. This episode will feature key industry leaders and stakeholders who will examine the following:

• The Advocacy Process
• Best Practices
• Current Issues and Potential Opportunities to Engage

The webinar will begin with remarks from HLTA President & CEO Mufi Hannemann and committee co-Chair Keli‘i Gouveia who is the General Manager at Duke’s Waikiki. The discussion panel will be moderated by Jared Higashi, HLTA’s Vice President of Government & Community Affairs and will include the following panelists:  

• Tina Yamaki - President, Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i
•  Emmanuel Zibakalam - Executive Director, Hawai‘i Crop Improvement Association
• Rick Egged - President, Waikiki Improvement Association
• Representative Richard H.K. Onishi – Hawai‘i State House of Representatives (District 3)

​As “virtual” seats are limited, I encourage you to register as soon as possible! You can do so by clicking on the graphic above or by clicking here.

I hope to see you there!

COVID-19 Commentary

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser's editorial staff issued a new piece this morning that echoes some of the statements that I have been making not only about the pandemic, but also on our path forward as we continue to deal and manage this health crisis successfully and transition to a more robust economic recovery phase. Outrigger’s Jeff Wagoner, who offered some excellent observations during the Spotlight forum that he and I participated in, was also quoted in the editorial. 

"Editorial: Making tourism more enlightened," Honolulu Star-Advertiser, March 2, 2021

Also in the Star-Advertiser yesterday was the first installment of a two-article series that featured different local leaders and their reflections on the past year that has seen our community struggle with a pandemic and an unprecedented economic downturn. You can read, in their own words, insights from individuals like Gov. David Ige, Lt. Gov. Josh Green, as well as others including yours truly. 

"A year of COVID-19: Key leaders in Hawaii’s pandemic response recall the challenges they faced," Honolulu Star-Advertiser, February 28, 2021

*The second installment of the series will be posted later today.

Vaccine Classification

You may have heard late last week that the American Hotel & Lodging Association began a nationwide campaign to urge governors to classify all hospitality workers in Phase-1B of the vaccination schedule, and New York quickly announced that the state's hotel workers would be moved up in the vaccination schedule.

On Saturday, HLTA Chair Cheryl Williams, most recent past Chair Michael Jokovich, and I sent a letter to Gov. Ige that notified him of the AHLA campaign, the resulting NY decision, and reiterated our request to have our people moved up in the State's vaccination schedule. As you are aware, John De Fries and I are engaged in substantive ongoing discussions with the Department of Health on this matter of extreme importance to our industry here.

Safe Travels Program

Our offices were recently notified that hotels and ground transportation services have begun reaching out to the Office of the Attorney General to clarify a traveler's status. We have been asked to relay to you that all inquiries of this nature should instead be routed to the Safe Travels Digital Platform Technical Service Desk.

The phone number for this desk is: 1-855-599-0888

They are open from 10 a.m. through 10 p.m., and any calls outside of these hours will be able to leave a voicemail. They will be able to remotely screen the traveler. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our offices at any time.

Mahalo,
​Mufi