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On June 25, the Hawaii Tourism Authority's (HTA) marketing committee met to review and discuss proposals by its contractors for funding through the newly established marketing opportunity fund. The $10 million marketing opportunity fund was established to provide HTA with the flexibility to fund activities that will boost short-term travel to Hawaii.
The new initiatives include Hawaii Tourism Japan’s (HTJ) marketing campaign that will focus on increasing awareness of Hawaii throughout Tokyo and Osaka, two cities with direct flights to Hawaii. The campaign was developed in response to anticipated demand for travel to Hawaii, the growing trend of last minute bookings and the elimination of the fuel surcharges as of
April 1.
HTJ will launch a “50 Reasons to Come to Hawaii” campaign in July to generate bookings for summer (end of July to August) and fall (September and October). The campaign includes:
• Television Advertising: To maximize exposure, advertising will coincide with the Imperial Family’s visit to Hawaii in July. The campaign is expected to reach more than 18 million households in Tokyo and 9 million households in Osaka
• Train Gallery Advertising: Hawaii ads will be placed on the busiest train lines in Tokyo and Osaka and will be seen by millions of passengers each day
• Print Advertising: An advertising insert will be produced by a newspaper in the Tokyo metropolitan area with a circulation of more than 2 million. An additional 10,000 copies will be reprinted and distributed at six major train stations in Tokyo
• Social Media: Blogging promotions will target the more than 5 million subscribers to one of Japan’s most popular blog sites. The blog post will focus on current promotions to generate awareness about travel to Hawaii;
• Trade Blitz: HTJ will promote “Discover Hawaii Day” consumer events in partnership with advertising partners with retail shops in Japan. In an effort to generate bookings to Hawaii, special packages and/or one-day only booking incentives will be offered, enhanced window and in-store Hawaii displays and Hawaiian entertainment will be provided;
• Imperial Hotel Tokyo Hawaii Promotion: This promotion will feature a live concert by Daniel Ho, special dishes prepared by chefs from the Halekulani Hotel, a Hawaiian music and hula dinner show, and a print advertising component;
• Yokohama Hawaii Festival: More than 30,000 are expected to attend this event that showcases Hawaiian entertainment and activities and retail shopping booths featuring Hawaii products;
• Narita Airport Authority Oasis Music Week: Miss Hawaii USA 2009 is among the headline Hawaiian entertainers who will perform during Hawaii Oasis Music Week at the JAL terminal at Narita airport. There will also be a Docomo kiosk for customers to upload a Hawaii slideshow on to their cell phones; and
• Aloha Yokohama 2009: Japan’s largest Hawaii festival that will feature Hawaiian entertainment, cultural activities including lei making and ‘ukulele lessons, a surf simulator, a volcano display, and informational and retail partner booths.
In addition to the “50 Reasons to Come to Hawaii” campaign, HTJ has launched two additional initiatives that are geared to further increase interest and generate bookings to Hawaii. The programs are:
• Spirit of Aloha Bus Tour: A six-day promotional bus tour will visit three major cities in Japan—Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Scheduled stops include television and radio morning shows appearances and daily events featuring hula performances and lessons, entertainment by Hawaii born sumo wrestler Konishiki, and sweepstake giveaways; and
• Aloha Biz Campaign featuring Miss Hawaii USA 2009 Caravan: For the fifth consecutive year, the successful Aloha Biz campaign promoted the wearing of aloha shirts to work during the warm summer months. This year, Miss Hawaii USA 2009 was on hand to meet with the governors from Hokkaido, Miyagi, Osaka, Miyazaki, Nagoya, and Tokyo, perform the hula and encourage people to visit Hawaii.
The board also approved funding for marketing initiatives in North America and Oceania. In Australia, Hawaii Tourism Oceania (HTO) will partner with Expedia to implement a marketing campaign that is designed to stimulate incremental travel to Hawaii through the end of 2009. The online campaign is designed to increase travel interest in Hawaii and support current airlift. HTO is working with industry partners to secure “value added” deals that include Neighbor Island visits and admission to attractions that highlight Hawaii’s diversity. This campaign targets travel during Oceania’s peak travel season, with the strongest month being September.