Business briefs

Advertiser Staff

$1.1M OK'd for festivals

The Hawai'i Tourism Authority approved $1.1 million in grants for festivals throughout the Islands next year, including $300,000 for the Aloha Festivals, $150,000 for the Honolulu Festival and $150,000 for the Pan-Pacific Festival on the Big Island. The board also reinstated $25,000 in financing for the Nikakai Art Exhibition.

At the authority's meeting yesterday, the board also approved $200,000 for a year-long contract with an accountability consultant to evaluate the impact of marketing by the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau. The consulting firm, which has not been selected, would produce quarterly survey results starting in the first quarter of next year, on visitors' intentions to travel to Hawai'i, their perceptions of Hawai'i and how Hawai'i compares with other destinations.

Travel accessory stores to close

The owner of the California Luggage Outlet in Waikele and El Portal at Ala Moana Center said it will close the two travel accessory stores early next year as part nationwide liquidation plan.

As many as two dozen Hawai'i employees are expected to lose their jobs early next year, according to Wilson's The Leather Expert, the chain's Minneapolis-based parent company.

1,000 nurses authorize strike

More than 1,000 registered nurses at Kuakini Medical Center, St. Francis Medical Center and Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children voted Wednesday night to reject management's most recent proposals and authorize a strike, despite continuing negotiations with management.