Kaua’i County Mayor Maryanne Kusaka predicts 2002 will bring the end for Osama bin Laden and a new, non-stop flight between Kaua’i and a mainland city on American Airlines. And Gary Baldwin of the Kaua’i Economic Development Board, also the
Kaua’i County Mayor Maryanne Kusaka predicts 2002 will bring the end for Osama bin Laden and a new, non-stop flight between Kaua’i and a mainland city on American Airlines.
And Gary Baldwin of the Kaua’i Economic Development Board, also the Kaua’i member of the board of the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, foresees further rapid growth in the island’s high-technology sector, and growth in the Kaua’i visitor industry in visitor days and expenditures.
He agreed with Kusaka that the new year will see at least one more non-stop flight between Lihu’e Airport and a mainland city.
“The future is very bright” for high-tech on the island, Baldwin said, with the second phase of the West Kaua’i Technology Center to break ground this month, and work moving forward rapidly on a third phase to include manufacturing facilities and be located in Lihu’e, as the second phase is fully leased.
In 2002, new high-tech companies coming to Kaua’i include Loea Communications Corp., Research Corp. of the University of Hawai’i, Northrup Grumman, Office of Naval Research and Cambridge Research Associates.
Companies already doing business on Kaua’i, such as Trex Enterprises, Solypsis, SCIC (Science Applications International Corporation) and DSR (Digital System Resources), plan expansions this year, Baldwin said.
In tourism, Baldwin also sees growth in the new year.
Because of the island’s high percentage of timeshare units, a decision to market the island to visitors from the mainland United States and Canada, a lesser dependence on Japanese visitors, United Airlines’ daily non-stop flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Kaua’i, among other factors, Baldwin sees growth in visitor days between 1 percent and 3 percent in the new year, compared to 2001.
He predicts growth of 5 percent to 7 percent in visitor expenditures for Kaua’i for 2002, compared to 2001.
“Timeshare will continue to prosper. Sales are up, occupancy is normal and steady,” he said.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
