Hawaii Tourism Authority's Annual Conference to Take Place in Late August

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), the state’s tourism agency, will hold its annual Hawaii Tourism Conference from August 22-23 at the Hawaii Convention Center.

The two-day conference is Hawaii's premier tourism stakeholder event featuring local, national and international leading experts in their fields sharing insight on tourism issues and trends.

“This is an exciting time for our visitor industry – we just came off of a record-breaking year and the momentum has continued into the first quarter," said Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the HTA, in a written release. "We look forward to coming together for this year's conference and sharing our successes, initiatives and plans, as well as looking at how we can continue to ensure the sustainability of our tourism economy.”

Themed "Defining the Next Chapter," the conference offers highly-informative sessions to engage and learn from presenters on key topics in today's ever-evolving travel industry. Attendees can look forward to connecting with experts discussing everything from hotels and airlift to the economy and social media, and discover ways to continue the success of one of the state’s leading economic drivers.

Editor-at-large for National Geographic Traveler and best-selling New York Times author, Andrew McCarthy, will be this year's keynote speaker. McCarthy will share some of his personal stories of the transforming effect of travel and his perspective on what visitors seek in travel. He is also well-known for his film career, including starring roles in "Pretty in Pink, "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Less than Zero."

The conference will also hold concurrent sessions, round-table and panel discussions on airlift and the modernization of Hawaii's airports, emerging markets, and more, where attendees can hear from industry experts including: Brad DiFiore, managing partner, Ailevon Air Service Consulting; Dr. Suzanne Cook, senior advisor, US Travel Association; Jason Pachecho, founder, BRIC Marketing Group; Joseph Toy, president, Hospitality Advisors and more.

The HTA’s global marketing partners, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, Hawaii Tourism Japan, Hawaii Tourism Asia, Hawaii Tourism Oceania, Hawaii Tourism Europe and Meet Hawaii will also reveal their 2014 marketing plan activities.

In addition, the HTA will recognize businesses and/or individuals in the industry and community who have helped to perpetuate the Hawaiian culture during the Tourism Legacy Awards Luncheon

Visit www.hawaiitourismauthority.org.