In October 2001, one month following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the Hawai‘i Visitors & Convention Bureau along with the Island Chapters started a Mainland road show to let consumers know that the rumors of Hawai‘i being a ghost
In October 2001, one month following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the Hawai‘i Visitors & Convention Bureau along with the Island Chapters started a Mainland road show to let consumers know that the rumors of Hawai‘i being a ghost town and struggling at 5 percent occupancy were simply not true.
Our job was to share the facts and be sure that people understood Hawai‘i was open for business.
I remember sitting in the Los Angeles Times travel editor’s office and answering the question, “This must be the worst thing that has happened to Hawai‘i in a long time, right?” I responded that for those of us who survived Hurricane ‘Iniki — Sept. 11, 1992 — THAT was the worst thing many of us had endured as an island in a long time.
Fifteen years later, Kaua‘i has only now regained the pre-‘Iniki levels of visitor arrivals.
While on a media trip in October 2001, I received a call that American Hawaii Cruises was filing for bankruptcy and leaving the Hawaiian waters very shortly. At that time, American Hawaii Cruises was the only ship that was allowed to overnight in Hawai‘i. Kaua‘i had enjoyed the sporadic day visits of international ships such as Crystal Cruise Lines, Holland Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean and Carnival, but none of those ships is allowed to overnight in an American Port due to the restrictions set forth in the U.S. Passenger Services Act of 1886.
When Norwegian Cruise Lines asked and was given permission to absorb the Hawai‘i schedule of American Hawaii Cruises, as well as take on the new ships being built for American Hawaii Cruises, the intra-island Hawai‘i cruise industry was given a new, expanded life.
At its peak a year ago, Kaua‘i was experiencing cruise ship visits almost seven days a week, boosting business for some activity companies as well as retail businesses in the surrounding areas.
Now that NCL has removed one ship from Hawaiian waters to reposition it in Europe, the announcement of a second NCL ship being removed from Hawai‘i has everyone questioning the impact of the cruise ship industry to Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i. The balance of consumer leisure tourism, in addition to a good mix of business (corporate, meetings and incentive) and a cruise industry becomes a delicate dance for a destination.
Three years ago there was a call for a cruise ship study when it was clear we were going to be full with daily cruise ships at Nawiliwili Harbor. Rather than start from scratch, it was suggested that we learn from other locales, such as Bermuda, Tahiti and Alaska and determine from them what was working and what wasn’t for their destinations and the cruise industry. That study has just been funded and is now underway. As we anxiously await a final report, many of us wish we could have had this study sooner.
What is constant is that tourism is cyclical and very much subject to the forces of nature, macroeconomic conditions and the effect on personal disposable incomes, the cost of fuel, rising operating and labor expenses, and growing competition from resort destinations worldwide.
We are entering a new cycle in which many of those elements will come together all at once and begin to impact our visitor industry. We are working hard to manage those dips to ensure they are not too low and the peaks are not too high, what I feel is the essence of a true balancing act.
• Sue Kanoho is the executive director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau. She can be reached at kauai@hvcb.org
