Despite real barriers, Hawaii’s
tourism officials are looking to
countries like China, Taiwan
and Korea for growthSECOND OF THREE PARTS
usinesses that appeal to the Japanese through their decor, signs and menus are as much a part of Waikiki as the urban beach scene, a remnant of the days when that international market drove the state's tourism industry.
Now that the state's tourism picture has shifted, the gesture is often lost on the droves of domestic visitors who choose to visit Hawaii's shores.
Hawaii's tourism planners have set their sights beyond the state's strengths on the West Coast and in Japan to target emerging markets around the globe. In part two of this three-part series detailing the opportunities that show the most promise, we take a look at Asian markets outside Japan.
» Yesterday: U.S. East
» Tomorrow: Europe and Australia
But one day soon, a new breed of Asian window dressing may decorate the streets of Waikiki, as businesses respond to a growing number of visitors from Korea, China and Taiwan. Hawaii's visitor industry is priming Asia to become the Japan of the next decade, a goal the industry has said will be attainable if key visa barriers are reduced or eliminated.
"Asia is the world's fastest growing travel market, and given this enormous growth in outbound travel from Asia, we need to position Hawaii to capture as much of this market as possible," said Michael D. Merner, managing director of Hawaii Tourism Asia, a subsidiary of Marketing Garden Ltd.
New visa policies implemented by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have raised major barriers to U.S. travel from Korea, China and Taiwan, requiring complex and time-consuming visa application procedures, and creating uncertainty. Even so, travel out of the Asian markets this year is booming, with travel out of Korea projected to surge to more than 7 million, travel out of China expected to surpass the number of passengers out of Japan, and travel from Taiwan fully recovering after the devastation of SARS.
In China alone, outbound travel has grown by five times in the past 10 years, and is projected to grow another five-fold by 2010, Merner said. China sent 38,923 visitors to Hawaii in 2002, while South Korea sent 48,174 visitors. The markets each represented less than 1 percent of Hawaii's total visitors days in 2002, but they are expected to hold long-term potential.
Capturing Asia's tourists is important to the future of Hawaii's visitor industry, Merner said, adding that these travelers tend to be active -- wanting to pack as much as possible into each day -- with a growing penchant for high spending.
Because the Asian market holds so much potential for Hawaii, the visitor industry is working with the state to improve visa restrictions for these travelers, increase the number of direct flights between the destinations and institute targeted marketing strategies, Merner said.
"By the year 2020, China will have 100 million outbound tourists, including 3 million long-haul travelers -- our target market for Hawaii," he said.
The state should be able to attain its target market unless another natural disaster like SARS cuts outbound travel from Asia, a terrorist attack hits the United States or visa regulations for Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese visitors continue to become more restrictive, Merner said, adding that these factors contributed to past declines in the market.
However, despite SARS, the war on Iraq and other geopolitical problems, state officials have predicted tourism from Asian countries outside of Japan will grow as much as 5 percent this year, said Marsha Wienert, Gov. Linda Lingle's tourism liaison.
And there's optimism within the market that further growth will happen if the state prepares itself to take advantage of this potentially booming market, said Henry Ou, president of the Hawaii Chinese Tourism Association.
"We need to make Honolulu the gathering place for all Asia tourists," Ou said, adding there is evidence that the industry is working to make that happen.
Next month, the state will host the first Asia Pacific Conference, which will bring 500 tourism professionals from China and 300 from the mainland, he said.
The state is working to ensure that conference attendees are able to enter Hawaii with ease, Wienert said, and that they have a good time when they get here.
Sorting out ease of entry and making Hawaii more Asian-friendly is important because competition for the eyes and ears of Asian consumers is becoming increasingly fierce with growing numbers of major destinations worldwide opening new tourism marketing offices in China and expanding their marketing programs in Korea, Merner said.
Destinations like Guam, Saipan, Bali, Thailand, Europe, the mainland U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam have the potential to dilute Hawaii's market share of the global tourism market, he said.
As other countries tap into Asia's tourism potential, Hawaii's tourism industry can't afford to let visa restrictions, flight problems or negative publicity interfere with its ability to grow this market, said Wienert.
The state plans to increase the inflow of business and vacation travelers from this market by lobbying for improved security and entrance procedures and launching a tourism plan targeted to this niche market, said Frank Haas, vice president of marketing for the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Tourism officials also have hired Marketing Garden to promote Hawaii in other Asian countries, primarily China, South Korea and Taiwan, Haas said.
The firm, which has offices in Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul, will use market research to create a standard image of Hawaii's destination market that appeals to Asian visitor, he said.
"The overall objective is to increase visitor expenditures," Haas said. "The campaign will look within Asia to find the market segment and niches."
Marketing Garden is using major media, travel trade and specialty events to package Hawaii as a destination, said Merner.
A major travel trade push capitalizes on the power of 4,500 travel agents in Korea, the 100 key agents in China, and the 500 major agents in Taiwan, as well as the key airlines flying out of Asia, to use their huge networks to aggressively market Hawaii to millions of Asian consumers, he said.
The agency has also launched consumer-oriented promotions in joint venture with major strategic partners, like General Motors in China, to bring the Aloha spirit to Asia and inspire travelers to visit the Hawaiian Islands, Merner said.
FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSESCharacteristics of Asian travelers:
» Active travelers; seeking to pack as much as possible into each day
» Generally price sensitive, but rapid growth in high-spending travelers has been seen over the past several years
» High spending on shopping; purchasing gifts for large numbers of relatives and fulfilling shopping wish lists from friends
» Interested in not just the beach and outdoors, but also culture and history
» Appreciative of high quality food
» Limited English-language skillsSOURCE: MARKETING GARDEN LTD.
ASIA MARKET AT A GLANCEAlthough historically, Hawaii-bound tourists from Asia outside Japan have not generated high visitor numbers, the state has said the potential for tourism from the area is tremendous. The state's visitor industry leaders have said they are priming Asia to become the Japan of the next decade, once the key visa barrier has been reduced or eliminated.
Peak travel levels to Hawaii from Asia markets with year Estimated 2003 arrival numbers The state target is to increase Asia outbound travel to Hawaii in 2004-05 by: Korea 122,902: 1996 48,523 12 percent China 38,923: 2002 25,409 21 percent Taiwan 88,193: 1992 14,447 10 percent SOURCE: MARKETING GARDEN LTD.
