Mufi's Message - May 10, 2017

​Congratulations to the HLTA Maui Chapter and Maui Hotel & Lodging Association for successful Charity Walks this past weekend on Lanai and Molokai! Lanai raised $38,390 and Molokai raised $33,654 for their island’s charities. The Charity Walk is heading to Maui, Hawaii Island, and Kauai this weekend on May 13, and then to Oahu on May 20.
 
This year, our media sponsors are Salem Media and Hawaii News Now, and each County will have a Hawaii News Now reporter or anchor as their Charity Walk Honorary Chair! Reporters Chelsea Davis and Ashley Nagaoka will represent Maui and Kauai, respectively; Sunrise Feature Reporter Billy V. will represent Hawaii Island; and Sunrise Weather Anchor Guy Hagi will represent Oahu with News Anchor Stephanie Lum. Dita Holifield of Salem Media will represent their radio stations as an Honorary Chair on Oahu. Each will make a special appearance at their respective walks, and have been promoting the Charity Walk on air and on social media.
 
On Oahu, HLTA will be having a Charity Walk rally this Thursday, May 11 at the Sheraton Waikiki Resort – Maui Ballroom between 1pm and 3pm. There will be music, light refreshments, and an opportunity to pick up walker stamp cards, drop off cash and check donations, and even register for the walk on-site. Please stop by to show your Charity Walk pride!
 
We also want to congratulate Lisalani Baybayan, our Na Poʻe Paʻahana Outstanding Lodging Employee for becoming a North Star Award finalist at AH&LA’s Stars of the Industry Awards program. The AH&LA Stars of the Industry awards program recognizes outstanding employee accomplishments and properties on the industry's biggest stage. The winner of the North Star Award, given to the industry's most outstanding employee, will be announced at the 2017 Stars of the Industry Ceremony on May 17, 2017. Since 2000, Hawaii has been fortunate to have eight national stars of the industry winners, with the most recent being Leticia Gamiao, a housekeeper at the then-Aqua Waikiki Wave, who won national recognition as Outstanding Lodging Employee of the Year in 2010.
 
Lisalani is a Regency Club Concierge at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa, who captured the title of Outstanding Lodging Employee this year at HLTA’s Na Po‘e Pa‘ahana awards for her personal acts of aloha. She is known to crochet luggage tags for guests and pick up mail boxes for visitors without transportation. Lisalani has also volunteered with the Charity Walk for over 25 years. We wish her the best of luck next week and hope she will bring home the title.