Posted on: Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Lack of money stops Waikiki walking tours

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

A popular Waikiki walking tour ground to a halt last week because of insufficient money.

For the past two years, the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association has conducted the Queen's Tour of the Waikiki Historic Trail. The free walking tours detailed the early days of Waikiki and drew hundreds of visitors and residents.

But the association was forced to end the tours Thursday when money ran out.

Dorien McClellan, association executive director, said she hopes to attract enough sponsors to resume the tours. McClellan said it costs the association about $5,000 a month to pay the historians who guide the tours and to cover other expenses.

"It's possible with visitors that we may go to having admission," she said. "But for the keiki and kama'aina, we really want to be able to continue our free tour because we really think it's important for people to understand the very rich history that we have."

The tours were started by Hawaiian historian George Kanahele, who died in 2000. Six days a week, a Native Hawaiian historian would take from 10 to 25 people along a route that stopped at 23 significant sites, including the residence of Queen Lili'uokalani and a camp ground of Kamehameha I.

The association also conducted special tours for schoolchildren and senior citizens, McClellan said.

"We talk to 12-year-olds and you talk to 65-year-olds and they don't look at Waikiki as having history. They look at it as being hotels and condominiums and obviously they look at it as a major industry," she said. "But they don't look at the fact that there's centuries of history of very sophisticated ecological projects. There's a great wealth of information that's very relevant and should make people very proud of where they live."

McClellan said the cutbacks have not affected the Kalia Tower tour at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Anyone interested in sponsoring the Queen's Tour can call the association at 841-6442.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8025.