Business swings with Grand Slam

If you look skyward, you may see Hyatt Regency Kaua’i Resort & Spa general

manager Jerry Gibson floating.

And with good reason. His hotel, host of the

PGA Grand Slam of Golf through today’s final round, is garnering international

publicity from the TV and print coverage the end-of-year tournament continues

to attract.

The excitement about the tournament fuels feelings for Kaua’i

all year long, he said.

“Economically, the benefit is for the whole island

and state, because people talk about it all year,” Gibson said. “I think it’s a

great marketing tool for the island.”

Last year, the hotel was at around 89

percent occupancy for the Grand Slam, he reported. This year, the entire south

shore visitor accommodations are sold out.

The shops inside the Hyatt

Regency have consistently been busy, because the 602-room hotel has had a

robust occupancy rate all year, Gibson said. But because the hotel is full now,

the shops are doing even better, he said.

All along the south shore,

restaurants are full and shops are busy as the business community participates

actively in the Grand Slam festivities.

“I’m thrilled about the whole

thing,” Gibson said.

He estimated about 7,000 people in yesterday’s

gallery at the Po’ipu Bay Golf Course adjacent to the hotel to see the opening

round of the two-day, $1 million tournament.

Down Po’ipu Road at the

Sheraton Kaua’i Resort, the Tiger factor is in – excuse the pun – full

swing.

During times when Tiger Woods has participated in the Grand Slam

(each of the past four years), Sheraton officials estimate 9,000 people come to

the island for the event, compared to around 3,000 if Woods doesn’t

play.

“Everybody wants to see Tiger, that’s for sure,” said Gibson.

The

414-room Sheraton gets a 7 percent occupancy boost during Grand Slam week, said

Tani Bova, the hotel’s director of communications.

“It’s great for the

island as a whole,” she said.

With the island’s reputation for excellent

golf courses, and the TV exposure the tournament brings – with swaying palm

trees, sunny skies, crystal-blue ocean and deep-green putting greens – “it’s a

valuable promotional tool,” Bova continued. “Obviously, they wouldn’t be

playing here if it wasn’t a good course.”

The Sheraton uses the Grand Slam

as a means of entertaining VIP guests and other important customers, she

explained.

Like the Hyatt, the Sheraton Kaua’i has enjoyed high occupancy

rates all year, Bova said.

The Hawai’i Tourism Authority helps bring the

Grand Slam to the island with a grant of $300,000, and the TV exposure from

Turner Network Television (TNT, which covers both days of competition) meshes

well with Kaua’i Visitors Bureau’s push to promote the island as a golfing

mecca, said Gary Baldwin, Kaua’i member of the Tourism Authority.

The

toll-free Kaua’i information telephone number staff has been put on full-alert

in anticipation of a flood of calls from snowbound mainland residents, said Sue

Kanoho, executive director of the Visitors Bureau.

Besides the exposure of

the south shore through TV shots of the golf action, segments on Kaua’i

activities and the Visitors Bureau 30-second commercial are invaluable

promotional opportunities, officials agreed.

This year, detailed visitor

surveys and interviews should yield good information on out-of-state visitors

at the Grand Slam, Baldwin said.

When the number of visitors here for the

Grand Slam is multiplied by length of stay times average daily visitor

expenditures, a clearer picture of the economic value of the event to the

island will be revealed.

Some figures already are known. For example, the

average daily visitor expenditure for those from the mainland is between $136

and $156 (slightly higher on the neighbor islands, but how much higher is

unknown), For Japanese visitors, the average daily expenditure is $227, Baldwin

said.

And, since a Japanese corporation owns both the Hyatt and Po’ipu Bay

Golf Course, many Japanese visitors are on the island for the Grand

Slam.

The bottom line, Baldwin said, is that whenever an outdoors event

features Kaua’i and sunny weather like Tuesday, the island benefits.

“It’s

a very, very important event for Kaua’i. Any event that Kaua’i gets that

showcases the outdoors is fantastic,” he said.

Travel and golf writers,

including some who played in Monday’s pro-am event (minus Woods, who arrived

yesterday), will write their stories and otherwise report about their Kaua’i

experiences. Sportscasts on radio and TV around the world will cover Kaua’i and

the golfers, and the entire state and island benefit, Baldwin said.

In

1998, an estimated 724,000 households tuned into the TNT coverage of the Grand

Slam on the first day, and over 1 million on the final day.

Last year,

796,400 households were glued to Tiger on the tube each day, according to

figures provided by Baldwin.

And the island benefits as these golf fans

spread across the county after the last putt falls. A&B Properties Inc.

recently secured a reservation on its last lot in the second phase of the Koloa

Estates subdivision. But an open house is set for this Friday, featuring a

house-and-lot package, with the aim of enticing people here for the golf to buy

a piece of property near the site of the Grand Slam, said Realtor Trinette P.

Kaui, property manager.

“Last year, I remember, we got a lot after the

Grand Slam,” as folks usually stay on the island through at least Saturday, she

said.

Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at [

HREF=”mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net”>pcurtis@pulitzer.net] or 245-3681 (ext.

224).

Armed with PGA Grand Slam caps showing their support for the golf

event at Poipu Bay Golf Course, Hawaiian Hut shave icers Ronda Kaleohano,

Kimberly Napohaku, and Vicky Brooks are ready to beat the heat with their

island offering. This is the fourth year the Hawaiian Hut crew has set up at

the Grand Slam event with a portion of their proceeds going to the Kaua`i Jr.

Golf program.