Mufi's Message - November 6, 2020

General Membership Meeting

Hawaiian Airlines President & CEO Peter Ingram and Alaska Airlines Director of Sales, Community & Public Relations Daniel Chun will both participate in a discussion panel entitled: The Future of Hawai'i from the Skies: an Airline Panel"

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Aloha,

We are less than a week away from our 193rd General Membership Meeting, and the final details are falling into place. I am excited to say that we have put together an extremely diverse and informational program for our first-ever virtual GMM. Please take some time to review the schedule below and, if you haven't already, register for this event.

If you have any questions or concerns about GMM, please email my Director of Membership & Special Events Ashley Yonamine who can be reached at ayonamine@hawaiilodging.org at any time.

193 HLTA General Membership Meeting 

Thursday, November 12th
12:00 p.m.
Virtual Sponsor Showcase 

1:00 p.m.
[Board of Directors Meeting]
[CLOSED SESSION]

2:30 p.m. (LIVE)
Governor David Ige
Mayor Derek Kawakami
Mayor Michael Victorino 

[SHORT BREAK]

4:00 p.m. (LIVE)
"The Future of Hawaiʻi from the Skies: an Airlines Panel"
Moderator - Allison Schaefers - Waikiki Bureau Chief, Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Andrew Waterson - EVP & Chief Revenue Officer, Southwest Airlines
Daniel Chun - Director of Sales, Community & Public Relations, Alaska Airlines
Peter Ingram - President & CEO, Hawaiian Airlines
Melinda Franklin - Managing Director, Corporate & Gov. Affairs, United Airlines

​Central Pacific Bank Executive Chairman Paul Yonamine will be speaking during the second day of GMM. His presentation, "Economic Diversification?", will be a thought provoking response to a question that has stumped our government officials and the community for decades.

Friday, November 13th
1:00 p.m. (LIVE)
John De Fries - President & CEO, Hawai'i Tourism Authority

1:15 p.m. (LIVE)
"Economic Diversification?"
Paul Yonamine - Executive Chairman, Central Pacific Bank

2:00 p.m. (LIVE)
State of the Industry - HLTA President & CEO Mufi Hannemann 
HLTA Chair Remarks - Mike Jokovich and Cheryl Williams 
Chapter Reports 
Chairman's Passing of the Gavel
Presentation of the New Officers, Board of Directors Recognition

3:30 p.m. (LIVE)
Lieutenant Governor Josh Green
Mayor-elect Mitch Roth
Mayor-elect Rick Blangiardi

[SHORT BREAK]

5:30 p.m. (LIVE)
Closing Remarks & Prize Giveaways

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Pre-Recorded Discussion Panels
Available for viewing at any time during GMM

Food Insecurity in Hawai'i & How We Can Help
Moderator - Dean Okimoto - former Executive Director, Hawai'i Agricultural Foundation
Phil Acosta - Executive Director, Aloha Harvest
Mark "Gooch" Noguchi - Co-Founder & Executive Chef, Pili Group
Brian Miyamoto - Executive Director, Hawai'i Farm Bureau Foundation

The Future of Marketing Hawai'i
Moderator - Sean Dee - EVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Outrigger Enterprises Group
Jay Talwar - Chief Marketing Officer, Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau
Danny Ojiri - VP Market Solutions, Outrigger Enterprises Group
Eric Takahata - Managing Director, Hawaii Tourism Japan
Jack E. Richards - President & CEO, Pleasant Holidays

COVID-19 Solutions
More information to be announced soon

Resolution 20-296

It is clear that our strong advocacy in opposition to Bill 80 (2020) led the City Council to reconsider its position on the proposed measure. The bill's original author Councilmember Tommy Waters instead submitted Resolution 20-296 which urges our industry to work with hotel employees to both address return to work practices and establish comprehensive safety protocols to ensure safe working conditions. Yesterday, the measure was heard by the City Council and committed to the Committee on Executive Matters and Legal Affairs. I submitted testimony in support of this measure as these are goals and objectives that our industry stakeholders have already been very actively pursuing with our employees and the two labor organizations that represent their workers. And our non-affiliated labor hotels have also done an excellent job of bringing their workers back safely.

I feel strongly that a resolution is the more responsible way for the Council to address the impacts of the pandemic, and I was pleased to see the Honolulu Star-Advertiser agree with this sentiment in a recent "Off the News" column which I have reproduced below. Though the resolution has been referred back to Councilmember Ron Menor's EMLA committee, any changes to the measure that will impact our industry adversely will not have our support. More importantly, resolutions do not have the force of law.

"City Council Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi has rightly put on hold a bill that mandates hotel employee callback rules and requires cleaning of occupied hotel rooms. While the debate over Bill 80 is a necessary one to balance business and labor concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the measure's legality is dubious and the room-cleaning proposal appears to conflict with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines."
-Honolulu Star-Advertiser, "Off the News"

Mahalo,
​Mufi