TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Ichiban ranking
for visitor guideAnother annual survey, another top ranking for the Japanese Guide to Hawaii.
The monthly guide geared toward the Japanese visitor ranked No. 1 in market penetration and readership in this year's Japanese Visitor Media Study by OmniTrak Group Inc.
The free monthly magazine has been in the top spot or "a close second," in 13 of the last 14 annual OmniTrak surveys, said Associate Publisher Isabel Figel.
It also netted top ratings in various categories covered by the survey.
The guide has been published for 22 years under Stone Publishing Co. Inc. For the past 10 years the magazine has been operated and managed in partnership with Figel's JGH International Inc.
Rankings of other guides were not released by JGH or OmniTrak, which cited its proprietary interest in the market survey.
"We do an in-person intercept at the airport with 600 departing Japanese visitors," said OmniTrak President Patricia Loui. It was conducted from April 23 to June 3, dates which include Golden Week, a high-travel period for Japan-to-Hawaii travel.
OmniTrak Vice President Alan Ellis and analyst Nicole Kirihara use "aided recall," Kirihara said, in surveying the Japanese travelers about which guides they pick up, which they actually read and other aspects of the guides' use.
It is a guide, so its content is guaranteed to be advertiser-friendly.
The word "advertorial" sends shudders snaking up spines in the newspaper business because it indicates editorial coverage paid for with advertising dollars.
To Figel it's not a bad word.
"Not at all," she said, because it makes advertising clients happy.
"For each advertiser we provide a free editorial block," Figel said.
"We actually have some original charter advertisers," Figel said, naming Benihana as an example. More than 100 businesses have advertised in the guide for more than two years and more than 90 percent of its clients renew contracts annually, she said.
The OmniTrak Japanese Visitor Media Study also included a comparison of in-room TV visitor channel usage. Nippon Golden Network ranked No. 1.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com