Hawaii seeks to boost Canadian arrivals

With an increased focus on Canada following a recent decline in visitation, the Hawaii Tourism Authority welcomed members of the travel industry in Toronto yesterday to discuss their plans for the market in the coming year.

The visit follows the appointment of VoX International as the HTA’s Canadian representative, which will see Canada handled as a distinct market from the rest of North America. In his first visit to Canada, HTA President & CEO George Szigeti outlined his vision to regrow attendance from the destination’s number two international market which is second only to Japan, which saw 1.5 million tourists travelling to Hawaii in 2016 (compared to approximately 500,000 Canadians).

“We’ve made a lot of good business decisions these last two years but none are as important as our new direction for Canada,” said Szigeti, adding that “while a lot of it has to do with currency, it’s also related to the amount of attention that we’ve given to this market.

“This is the first time we’ve separated Canada on its own from North America,” he continued. “While we did our assessments during our first few months on the job, it became very clear that our number two international market was down 21 per cent at the time. The bottom line is that we want more Canadian travelers coming back to Hawaii; even though we were down earlier in the year, we finished at only 6.5 per cent down.”

A particular focus in drawing more Canadians, particularly Millennial travelers, will be an increased focus on authentic Hawaiian experiences, Szigeti said, from exploring the islands volcanoes and rainforests to whale watching, traditional cuisine and of course, surfing.

“Today’s travelers want to spend their time and money in destinations which share their values in cultural preservation, sustainability, conservation and community spirit,” he said, adding that Canadians visitors typically stay an average of 12.6 days in Hawaii and are not limited to any island in particular.

Technology will play a big role in communicating those authentic aspects of the destination, Szigeti said, including the recently-launched GoHawaii mobile app which provides in-destination information for travellers. An updated GoHawaii website will be launched next month, with an increased focus on video and still images to inspire travellers.

Visitors can also get a taste of the islands before they arrive with the HTA’s Hawaii VR program, which showcases the destination with 360-degree video, including experiences such as hang gliding.

Szigeti added that the annual Hawaii Tourism Conference takes place Sept. 18-21 at the Hawaii Convention Centre in Honolulu and of particular note for Canadians, the Toronto Raptors will also take on the Los Angeles Clippers in two NBA pre-season games in Honolulu that same week.