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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 24, 2001

Didgets
Aloha Street is where Japanese click on Hawai'i

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

There's no Aloha Street in Hawai'i, somewhat surprisingly, but there is a place called Aloha-street.com on the Web. For a lot of Japanese visitors, it's becoming a virtual Grand Central Station. Produced by Wincubic.com, Aloha-street.com (www.aloha-street.com) is the Web sibling of a tourist publication of the same name, one of the myriad mags available throughout Waikiki. Lately, traffic has increased on Aloha-street.com, because of a link with the Web portal site Excite Japan, which has been offering various Hawai'i tourism promotions since late June.

The site functions as a cyber-concierge to provide an events calendar; primers on local foods, Hawaiian music and hula; res-taurant reviews and reports on events such as the Great Aloha Run; coupons visitors can access via e-mail; and online polls.

Once the tourist arrives (in theory, already an expert), there's a print magazine to continue guidance; and then, after they go home, there's the Kuchikomi ("word of mouth") online community, where they can share their experience and relive their vacation with others.

Then, for when they really get nostalgic, there's a webcam snapping shots of Diamond Head every few minutes.