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| The Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa recently hosted the Journese CURATORS event. // Photo by Joe Pike |
KAUAI, Hawaii – As part of our recently-concluded coverage of the Journese CURATORS event, in which the luxury brand of Pleasant Holidays rewarded its top 25 advisors with a three-night stay at the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa, we had a chance to sit down with Kimberly Daley, senior vice president of sales strategy for Pleasant Holidays, and found out what destinations are trending in Hawaii and beyond.
What's Hot in Hawaii?
Daley told Travel Agent that while all of Hawaii is hot right now, Maui has been the Aloha State’s strongest island for tourism while luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina have created buzz on Oahu.
“Kauai has also really grown with the Grand Hyatt Kauai (Resort and Spa),” says Daley, “And (Hawaii Island) has had our biggest increases for the 2016-2017 season.”
Daley attributes the increases on Hawaii Island to the influx of lava tours on the island.
“The general typography of Hawaii is just so vast that I think that is what is enticing the traveler,” says Daley. “There is also great airlift to Hawaii’s four key islands.”
What Destinations Are Next for Journese?
Daley told Travel Agent that she would like to see the Journese brand continue to aggressively expand to hot, luxury destinations throughout the world with an immediate focus on the Maldives.
Journese recently expanded to Dubai and Abu Dhabi and feels it would make sense for the company to add the Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius to its portfolio, Daley says.
“We are also looking to get into Asia in the next year and a half and we would like to expand more into Central America and then South America,” she says. “What we also need to do now, what our advisors are seeking from us, is to expand our coverage of Europe in 2017.”
Next Year’s CURATORS Event to Be Held in Panama
Daley told us that she would like the CURATORS event to be hosted in Hawaii every other year since “Hawaii is what really put us on the map.” But with the event hosted in Kauai this year, next year’s event will be one of those bi-annual years outside of the Aloha State. So, where will the event be next year? Daley announced to attendees on the last night of the event that next year’s gathering will be in Panama.
Visit www.journese.com and www.pleasantholidays.com. Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for all your latest travel news and be sure to follow Travel Agent’s Joe Pike on Twitter @TravelPike.