NAWILIWILI — The late James Cash Penney, founder of JCPenney stores, once said “courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.” Here that treatment is called “aloha,” and it’s probably the biggest asset in bringing visitors back, visitor-industry professionals
NAWILIWILI — The late James Cash Penney, founder of JCPenney stores, once said “courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.”
Here that treatment is called “aloha,” and it’s probably the biggest asset in bringing visitors back, visitor-industry professionals say.
Aloha, however, needed some extra help back in December 2008, as visitor arrivals on the Garden Island were down 32.7 percent, according to the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau. Those were the lowest numbers since the aftermath of Hurricane ‘Iniki, in 1992.
So the Kaua‘i County Council in July 2009 gave $1 million to KVB to boost tourism.
“The amount of reach we’ve had with these dollars, the ripple effect, has been tremendous,” said KVB Executive Director Sue Kanoho.
KVB designed an Economic-Stimulus Plan, probably the most comprehensive and aggressive advertising campaign ever done on Kaua‘i. The funds were divided equally in two phases, with the first one running from July to December 2009, and the second from January to December 2010.
It has been almost a year, and the first $500,000 spent generated more than $19.57 million in sales during phase con, said Kanoho. She gave council members Wednesday a comprehensive report of the plan’s achievements.
“Mahalo nui loa to all of you, specifically to (Councilman) Dickie Chang for helping us get to where we got today,” Kanoho said, adding that the millions of dollars generated by phase one shows the program has been “very successful.”
KVB used half of the phase-one money between six wholesalers, developing Kaua‘i-specific programs. Another $170,000 was spent to develop a kama‘aina campaign, which included printing 30,000 Kaua‘i coupon books.
KVB spent the rest of the money on radio advertising, a 50th-anniversary celebration of the movie “South Pacific,” a Mainland tour promoting Kaua’i, the Pacific Northwest Blitz, and administration costs.
The ‘South Pacific’ connection
Mitzi Gaynor, star of “South Pacific,” returned to Kaua‘i for the first time in 50 years to promote the movie’s celebrations.
Kanoho said Gaynor’s visit was so successful that she considered hiring security for the actress. “People wanted to take her home and have dinner with her,” she joked.
Over 400 people attended “An Afternoon with Mitzi Gaynor” at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club, in October. Kanoho said 40 percent of the attendees were visitors, some of whom flew in just for the event, and spent a few nights on the island.
Councilman Tim Bynum said “South Pacific” was a controversial movie when it was released. “It portrayed something common in Hawai‘i, but uncommon on the Mainland — an interracial romance.”
“Having Mitzi here for the events was probably the biggest bang for the buck” Bynum said.
Kanoho said over 197 news and media outlets published press releases about Gaynor’s return to Kaua‘i and the movie celebrations, resulting in over 528 million impressions.
The Pacific
Northwest Blitz
The Pacific Northwest Blitz hit the road late September, targeting Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, Canada.
The blitz included travel-agent and media receptions in all three cities.
By late October, the blitz wrapped up after a week of events starting in Washington state and finishing in Vancouver. The events included island music, hula dancing and several booths promoting Kaua‘i businesses, culture, tourism and movie industry.
Kaua‘i falsetto singer Nick Castillo and Miss Garden Isle Noelani Kaui provided the music and the hula for the events. Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr. also attended the shows.
“The mayor is a big, cuddly, fun ‘ukulele (player),” said Chang, praising Carvalho and causing laughter in the audience. “He projects Kaua‘i really well.”
Chang said Castillo plays guitar “incredibly,” and Kaui may dance the hula with a crown on her head, but when it’s time to lend a hand to set up or break down the stage, she didn’t hesitate.
Kanoho agreed with Chang, saying Castillo and Kaui “are as much a part of the team as they are entertainers.”
Tourism strength
Council Chair Kaipo Asing said that, during his childhood, sugar plantations were the main industry on Kaua‘i. Construction and pineapple-farming followed, leaving tourism low in the relevance scale.
Times have changed, and now tourism is on top. “Until we can find something else, there’s no magic bullet. So we need to take good care of that industry,” Asing said.
When the council approved in 2009 the economic stimulus to KVB, there was some criticism from the public, according to Asing. “I’m glad that we did it, because we see the results today,” he said.
Asing praised KVB for the detailed data collected, including not just what was positive, but also what didn’t work as planned.
Kanoho told council members that on phase two, KVB won’t be printing Kaua‘i coupon books because the return wasn’t as expected. Also, KVB will probably shift focus to Canada to bring in more visitors.
The actual visitor expenditures amount to $11.79 million, but the economic impact, after an “output multiplier” of 1.66, equals $19.57 million, according to Kanoho.
The multiplier was calculated by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
“For people who are wondering what this multiplier is, it’s how many times money spent by a tourist circulates through our economy. So $1 spent is equivalent to $1.66.” Councilman Derek Kawakami said.
Visitors spend on airline tickets, hotel rooms and services, local products and businesses. The same dollars are spent by local businesses on re-stocking supplies, sometimes with local produce, or on lu‘au entertainment, or paying staff and so forth, said Kawakami.
Tourism’s future
Randy Francisco, president and chief executive officer of the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce, said the “key is keeping businesses in business, and keeping people employed.”
Francisco said Kaua‘i has probably 3,500 businesses. About 450 are KCC members, and roughly 88 percent of those are small businesses.
“We need government to take leadership,” Francisco said. “Businesses can’t do it all.”
“Anything government can do that’s innovative and out of the box, which is what we need people to think about, is going to help us,” he said.
Resident Glenn Mickens suggested that in the future KVB look into using funds to help subsidize airfare for returning visitors. The suggestion was well-received by Francisco.
Kanoho said phase two is underway and is similar to phase one. The major differences will be cancellation of the coupon book and the re-shift of the focus to Canada.
KVB will probably release a report about four to six weeks after December, when that phase ends, Kanoho said.
