HTA gives green light to
five-group marketing planThe board's approval is contingent
on finalizing contract negotiations
and a budget for 2004
When a Japanese traveler, curious about going to Hawaii, calls Dentsu Inc., Japan's largest advertising agency, Dentsu will answer, "Hawaii Tourism Japan." When a European calls the Mangum Group in Europe, the answer will be "Hawaii Tourism Europe."
And when the two companies want to find out what the other is doing, and need to make plans with Maui Visitors Bureau or the Kauai Visitors Bureau, they'll be calling the state to coordinate.
Next year, when five separate organizations around the world begin marketing Hawaii tourism, the state Hawaii Tourism Authority will be in the center, guiding the campaigns, not the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau.
Through standardized reports, turf rules and an internal reorganization, the 17-employee authority plans to oversee a new tourism marketing process that is being split into geographic regions, without hiring more of its own workers. The five marketing agencies will be the marketing experts in their own corners of the world, building Hawaii's image in their own specific way, though the consumer isn't supposed to notice that there's five separate groups guiding the play the behind the stage.
The authority's board approved its 2004 Annual Tourism Marketing Plan yesterday at the Hawaii Convention Center, where it held a closed-door discussion for several hours. The approval is contingent on the completion of contract negotiations with the five marketing organizations and a marketing budget.
The authority also will coordinate the overall direction of Hawaii's image to consumers, its brand, something the authority has already done with the Hawaii visitors bureau, said Frank Haas, tourism marketing director for the HTA.
The authority will hold public meetings on all major islands next week to discuss the new approach to state tourism marketing efforts, a much-scrutinized force in Hawaii's $10 billion tourism industry. The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, after a century of marketing Hawaii to all visitors, will only market the islands to North America and business travelers, and four companies will handle international travelers.
At the same time, the state is lowering its leisure marketing spending 3.5 percent to $32 million next year from $33.15 million this year, with the money going into other tourism marketing programs.
Here are some facets of the new leisure marketing system:
>> Each marketing agency will be responsible for bringing Hawaii's brand to life in their market.Haas said the authority is optimistic about the outlook for next year. The state expects tourism spending will rise 7.8 percent to $11.4 billion. The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization predicts that, after flat visitor arrival growth this year, arrivals will go up 8.7 percent next year.>> Dentsu and the Mangum Group are hiring employees from the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, tapping into the bureau's personal experiences.
>> Dentsu is setting up a Hawaii office with two people staffing it. The other marketing agencies will come to Hawaii as needed and hired subcontractors for specific marketing functions.
>> If the HVCB gets a call from a potential Japanese visitor, the call will be rerouted to Dentsu, and the same logic will apply to other regions that are no longer the bureau's turf.
The yen has strengthened significantly since this summer to under 110 yen per dollar.
However, the UH organization said it does not think the number of Japanese visitors next year will return to levels seen before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
As such, Hawaii's tourism recovery will unfold at the same time that the marketing is changing.
"It's going to have to play itself out, and if adjustments are necessary, adjustments are going to have to be made," said Murray Towill, president of the Hawaii Hotel & Lodging Association, which represents more than 180 hotels. "As long as they are committed to making those kinds of adjustments as it appears necessary, hopefully it will work."
