Those who think the $1 million in taxpayer money being spent by the Hawai’i Millennium Commission to promote tourism to the islands is being wasted need only look at island sugar operations to see the campaign’s importance. So says Eric
Those who think the $1 million in taxpayer money being spent by the Hawai’i
Millennium Commission to promote tourism to the islands is being wasted need
only look at island sugar operations to see the campaign’s importance.
So
says Eric Honma, Kaua’i representative on the commission.
With the sugar
industry as the island knows it on the way out, tourism must remain the
economic driving force for Kaua’i and the state, he said.
The commission’s
goal – to increase the number of visitors to the state by 500,000 – fits into
that scheme of things, said Honma, who is chairman of the Kaua’i County Liquor
Control Commission.
And with increased, well-funded competition coming from
other destination areas (and cruise ships and other ways of spending
vacations), the need for promoting Hawai’i nationally and internationally from
a variety of angles and on a variety of fronts is more important than ever,
said Honma.
“The visitor industry will sustain the island until a successor
to sugar is found. Any time you spend money to promote the visitor industry,
it’s beneficial to the entire state,” he said.
“Rediscovering Hawai’i” is
something of an unofficial slogan of the commission. The celebration’s logo
features eight rays of light and the North Star ancient navigators used to
first find the islands.
The overall idea is to try to attract visitors to
the state and individual islands, and to get Hawai’i into the millennium mood
with the new century and the new economy and what that all means to the state,
continued Honma.
A part of that promotional push is aimed squarely at
former Hawai’i residents. The Hawai’i Come Home campaign is telling folks,
especially on the mainland, that if you haven’t come home to Hawai’i in several
years, “it’s time,” he said.
The commission, which last year got $98,224
and this year $895,944 from the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, was formed in 1999
by Governor Ben Cayetano with the stated mission to celebrate the unique
communities, ‘ohana and values of Hawai’i, to invite former island residents to
return for a visit this year, and to establish a foundation for Hawaii’s young
people. This is according to a status report the commission, a public-private
partnership, presented to the Hawai’i Tourism Authority earlier this
week.
The presentation was “favorably received” by the HTA, according to
Gary Baldwin, Kaua’i HTA member.
As part of the Hawai’i Come Home campaign,
the commission hired musician Henry Kapono Ka’aihue to write a song. After a
few weeks, Kapono came back to the group and said an old song, with a few new
verses, captures the essence of the campaign.
“Home in the Islands” is that
song. It was released as a multi-media CD single last month, with Kapono joined
by performers Keali’i Reichel and Melveen Leed.
Longs at Kukui Grove and
Kaua’i Village have the CD on sale now, and are donating all proceeds to Ke Au
Hou, Hawai’i’s Youth Millennium Fund of the Hawai’i Community Foundation that
Honma said will be the legacy the commission leaves behind after its official
work is done at the end of this year.
Using priorities established at last
year’s Millennium Young People’s Congress (education, peace, environment, human
rights, health, democracy and others), the fund proposes building positive,
essential assets for and with Hawaii’s youth.
Cuisine of the Millennium, an
event scheduled for December followed by release of a cookbook in January, will
also generate funds for Ke Au Hou.
Recently, the outer island counties each
received $25,000 from the commission to promote events within their counties,
Honma said.
On Kaua’i, activities that got financial and other assistance
from the commission include the Kaua’i Taro Festival, Aloha Week celebration, E
Emalani I Alaka’i Festival (recreating Queen Emma’s historic horseback trek
through the Alaka’i Swamp), Hawai’i International Film Festival and the 14th
Kaua’i-Tahiti Fete.
The idea behind supporting those projects is to help
them maximize their entertainment for and assistance to visitors and residents,
Honma said.
Partners in the Hawai’i 2000, The Dawn of the New Millennium
commission program include ABC Stores, Aloha Airlines, Aloha Festivals, Aston
Hotels, AT&T Wireless, Budget Rent-A-Car, Hawai’i Activities and Tours
Association, Hawai’i Attractions Association, Hawai’i Community Foundation,
Hawai’i International Film Festival, Hawai’i Pizza Hut, Hawai’i Public
Television, Hawai’i Publishers’ Association, HTA, Hawai’i Visitors and
Convention Bureau, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association,
Kamehameha Schools, and other public and private entities.
Staff
writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) and
pcurtis@pulitzer.net
