There’s no denying that tourism-rich Hawaii has been
suffering from a lack of visitors lately as officials have been incrementally trying to tackle the
issue. Now comes the latest idea.
The powers that be in the state are getting more segmented. They will begin a new campaign targeting visitors from Japan and the United States’ west coast. The plan is based on proximity and is expected to start in the coming weeks.
“Hawaii needs more people,” said Breck Foley of Akamai
Rentals. “Needs to be more lively again. Definitely notice when you work in the
tourism industry you notice the decrease. Even just walking around Waikiki you
don’t see as many people walking around.”
“Normally we’d be sold out of chairs and surfboards by
like 8 or 9,” said Charles Boyd of Dive Oahu. “But like, using today as an
example, it’s been a lot slower. Took a long time to actually get all our
umbrellas rented out.”
Officials are
well aware that tourism and visitor spending is down compared to recent
years. Much of that has to do with difficult economic times as well as things
like the wildfires two years ago in Maui.
“There is a concern and we are working diligently on
addressing those concerns,” said Daniel Nahoopili, interim President and CEO of
Hawaii Tourism Authority. “We’ll be on the news doing some actual pop-up
events as well to get the Los Angeles market aware that Hawaii is open.”
The campaign will be called “The People, The Place,
The Hawaiian Islands.”
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