Japanese tourism
campaign impresses
legislators
A Japanese agency impressed Hawaii lawmakers yesterday with a slick campaign to increase visitors from Japan to the islands. A state Senate tourism committee member called Hawaii's past efforts "embarrassing" by comparison.
Hawaii Tourism Japan, which has a new contract to market Hawaii in Japan, and the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau both unveiled their marketing strategies for legislative tourism committees.
The favorable reaction to the Japanese program validated last year's decision to break up the state's $35 million tourism marketing contract to take advantage of Japanese expertise in the critical Asian market, lawmakers said.
Sen. Sam Slom said the move was "one of the best things we did."
The Japanese company offered what lawmakers said was an innovative marketing strategy complete with a new interactive Web site, brochures, posters, postcards and a Hawaii gallery in downtown Tokyo.
The contract to lure high-spending Japanese visitors to Hawaii is worth $7.3 million. Before this year, the local visitors bureau had received the entire worldwide marketing contract. It was broken up after the century-old nonprofit bureau came under fire for wasting state funds and poor oversight.
"We have been underwhelmed for many years," said Slom, (R-Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai.) "We kept asking, 'Can't you do anything better than this? Where's something fresh? Where's something new?'
"And here the Japanese bureau was able to do it in months and it was first class and it was excellent and caught everybody's imagination," he said, calling the Japan presentation "one of the finest things we have ever seen."
After the briefing, Slom said the bureau's past online efforts, compared to Japan's product, were "embarrassing."
Hawaii Tourism Japan executive director Takashi Ichikura said his office is working on "rebranding" the image of Hawaii and focusing on the unique characteristics and diversity of each island. Most Japanese who visit Hawaii never travel beyond Oahu, he said.
Ichikura said while Japanese travelers have increased, Hawaii's market share has fallen as they head for other new "up-and-coming" destinations including Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and China.
Many tourists, especially younger ones, are also heading to Saipan and Guam because they offer American amenities and shopping much closer and more affordable than Hawaii. Therefore, Hawaii must expand its marketing beyond the usual beaches, shopping, dining and nice hotels, he said.
The disparity between the Japanese agency and the bureau was most evident in a new Web site to market the islands.
The site, www.gohawaii.jp, which features an interactive map and video messages, was created in a few months and launched for $300,000 by Hawaii Tourism Japan.
It impressed lawmakers while HVCB officials acknowledged their sites, www.gohawaii.com and www.sharingaloha.com, which have cost nearly $2 million over the past three years, needed work.
Senate Tourism Committee chairwoman Donna Mercado Kim, (D-Kalihi Valley-Halawa,) questioned the bureau's efforts and the money it spent.
"I know there have been some challenges, but this has been going on for three years and every year they tell me, 'It's going to come online. We're working on it. We're fixing it,"' she said. "This is a high-tech world. How long does it take?"
Bureau President John Monahan said the bureau, which markets Hawaii in North America, has contracted with a new advertising agency to handle the Web sites.
"I can't speak for the past, unfortunately, but we do have a Web site and it does function, but it is not the quality and level it needs to be. There's no question," he told lawmakers.
Monahan said the bureau will make strides. "We can't continue to promise. We just have to deliver," he said.