The September 11th attack
Hawai'i's appeal helps draw visitors

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

Pauline Duffy had planned her "field trip" to Egypt for weeks, but after terrorist attacks on the United States shook her sense of the world and her comfort about travel, she ditched adventure for a happy destination that would salve her trauma: Hawai'i.

"When I really want to relax I'll go to Hawai'i," said the Boston social worker, who will spend two weeks on O'ahu and the Big Island in November. "The thing that really satisfies me about Hawai'i is the nature — being in the water, all the fish and the turtles, and all the people. The people are all nice to you."

Amid the layoffs, the lighter-than-usual planes, and the half-empty hotels, a bright spot has begun to shine for Hawai'i: Many groups and individuals who were planning meetings and vacations abroad have thrown them over for Hawai'i, safe in its tropical isolation. While the trend won't single-handedly save the state's economy, industry executives cling to the hope that it will at least help stop the bleeding, and will boost the "plus" column for Hawai'i.

"It will help us rebuild some of the base we've lost," said Robert Solomon, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Outrigger Hotels and Resorts. "It's not going to be a bonanza, but it will help us get even."

The numbers are almost impossible to quantify, visitor industry executives said, but they are pronounced enough to be noticed.

A California telecommunications company scheduled to bring 150 people to a meeting in Malay-

sia in February is considering the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Hotel instead, Outrigger spokesman Jim Austin said. A U.S. automaker is also considering the hotel for a 2003 meeting that was slated for Europe.

Norwegian Cruise Line scrapped its Mediterranean itinerary and has found many of those cruisers opting for Hawai'i instead, said NCL senior vice president Robert Kritzman. And Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide has found at least 10 incentive groups scheduled for Europe keenly eyeing Hawai'i.

"We are seeing several inquiries coming in from our global sales offices as well as customers inquiring about moving their incentive programs to Hawai'i," said Starwood Hawaii's sales director Cheryl Williams. "Most have come from customers that were scheduled to have their incentive program in Europe. We don't have anything definite confirmed, but we're working on several opportunities."

Working in Hawai'i's favor, say travel agents, travelers and tourism executives, is a sense of comfort and familiarity. And because it is part of the United States, which has become important to some travelers not only for security reasons, Solomon said, but because it presents an opportunity to "reinvest in America." It is also viewed as a relaxing, soothing experience, they say.

"It's a destination that consistently delivers and also has an aura of safety," said Michelle Morgan, executive director of Leisure Travel Group, Inc, a Los Angeles-based co-op of 245 retail travel agencies. "Other alternatives, Mexico, there's an aura about being in a 'foreign' country when something happens 'at home.' Hawai'i, while distant, is still very much 'God Bless America.'"

But working against Hawai'i, Morgan and others caution, is that people need to get on a commercial airliner to get here, an act that took on new meaning after hijackers used passenger planes to destroy the World Trade Center and damage the Pentagon.

"It's the fear of flying factor that is still going to impact the destination," Morgan said. "It's going to take some time to come back."

Total passengers arriving in Hawai'i are down 35 percent, and state economists suggest Hawai'i could lose $1 billion this year in visitor spending.

But airlines have kept flying nearly all their Hawai'i routes, albeit half-empty, and many hotels report that new bookings have begun to outnumber cancellations. And Hawai'i appears to be doing better than many other tourism destinations.

"The real good news is that Hawai'i of all of our product lines is by far the strongest," said Classic Vacation Group chief executive officer Ron Letterman, adding that Hawai'i will suffer the smallest percentage loss of all the destinations his company offers. "If they're booking anything, they're booking Hawai'i."

Hawai'i Convention Center bookings have also held steady, with only three cancellations compared to other cities, like Phoenix, which lost 13 events. New bookings, though local, have begun to come in, said center general manager Joe Davis, and the visitors bureau has been aggressively mining the international arena.

The convention center lost a Japanese event for 2,000 people scheduled for the week that planes were grounded in the United States, and two others scheduled for later. The Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau is trying to secure business still on the books with phone calls and contact with clients, said bureau vice president for corporate meetings Sandra Moreno, and is actively pursuing groups scheduled for international destinations that may be rethinking their plans.

Though the bureau hasn't booked anything yet, Moreno said it is in contention for a meeting that was supposed to take place in Brussels.

"There are a lot of cancellations going on," Moreno said.

Many of these meetings are years away, but executives say winning them would help send the message that Hawai'i is open for business.

And forging the image of a safe, secure Hawai'i could attract more travelers like Duffy and help spread the word that Hawai'i is welcoming. But leaping the public's new hurdle of fear could be difficult.

"If we let ourselves be intimidated by what's happened, it's not a good thing," Duffy says. But even she will still carry one vital piece of equipment in her bags in case she has to evacuate her 44-story hotel in Waikiki.

"I'm taking a flashlight with me," she said.

Michele Kayal can be reached at mkayal@honoluluadvertiser.com.