MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaii’s four county mayors will join state and county tourism officials next week for a special marketing campaign in Los Angeles to promote Hawaii as a wonderful visitor destination.

The special promotional campaign is entitled “Hawaii: A Thousand Reasons to Smile,” and was organized by the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, its Island Chapters and the mayors. Events in Los Angeles will begin on September 1. Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi, Maui County Mayor Charmaine Tavares and Kauai County Mayor Bernard Carvalho are participating to demonstrate how important the industry is to our economy and its workforce.

“We are so grateful to the mayors for their support of Hawaii’s tourism industry,” said John Monahan, President and CEO of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. “This is the first time all the county mayors have participated together at an HVCB media launch event, and their presence will add enormous value toward the success of our promotional efforts.”

The campaign is designed to remind major media outlets and potential visitors that Hawaii is a beautiful and safe destination with a rich culture and fascinating history, and offers good value to travelers who have many other options.

“For the first time, all Hawaii’s mayors are working together to support a major visitor industry event,” Honolulu Mayor Hannemann said. “We all know how important the industry is to our economy, and we know that we are more effective leaders when we work together toward a common goal. Having participated in the debut of this campaign in San Francisco earlier this year with entertainer Willie K. and the HVCB, I know it is proving successful and beneficial for Hawaii.”

The mayors said they strongly agree that leaders must work together on this issue.

“It’s important to be active in promoting our main economic engine, tourism,” said Maui County Mayor Tavares. “This is a unique opportunity to help showcase our wonderful state and each of our beautiful islands. Having all four of Hawaii’s mayors in a united effort speaks volumes about how important tourism is to our economic recovery. As we capture the attention of vacationers and business travelers, we will help draw their interest to Hawaii.”

Hawaii County Mayor Kenoi said, “Hawaii has so much to offer as a visitor destination, and reductions in hotel room rates and air fares make this the ideal time to experience all that Hawaii has to offer. We will be reminding travelers that whether they want to experience the power of erupting Kilauea Volcano, relax on beautiful Waikiki Beach or experience Native Hawaiian culture and traditions, there is no better time than now to bring your friends and family to the Islands of Hawaii.”

Kauai County Mayor Carvalho said, “Every destination is competing for scarce visitor dollars. We absolutely must be out in the marketplace with a compelling and unique message.  The Mayors are more than happy to support this effort because it should translate into more jobs more revenues for our businesses.”

The campaign will highlight Hawaii’s culture, its myths and legends, culinary trends and entertainment, and will feature lunch and dinner kickoff events with travel industry media professionals, and intimate “talk story” sessions with Hawaii representatives.