Arts season packaged for tourism

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

Tourism officials are joining forces with the arts and culture community in hopes of drawing visitors to the Islands next spring for a Hawai'i Arts Season.

It will be the first time the Hawai'i Tourism Authority is trying the idea of packaging arts and cultural activities into a season. The goal is to attract upscale travelers during the slower spring season from Feb. 27 to May 2.

The authority is spending $100,000 to coordinate the effort and is also dedicating some of its tourism marketing resources for North America and Japan to the arts season.

The program is not intended to create new events, but to draw tourists to existing activities and locations like museums, Merrie Monarch Winners in Concert, the Honolulu Festival and "hidden gems" that include art in Chinatown and Lahaina boutiques and galleries. Part of the message is that arts and culture in Hawai'i "rival the best in the country," the authority says.

The campaign is aimed at giving people a reason to come to Hawai'i, particularly more sophisticated, deep-pocketed travelers.

Frank Haas, tourism authority marketing director, said visitors need a reason to come to Hawai'i in the spring. "The spring is very nice in other parts of the country," he said, including vacation spots that compete with Hawai'i.

The spring season is also a time when children are in school so the marketing target is a more mature crowd.

Even so, "it's not just high culture, it's all of the activities that happen," Haas said.

"It's part of the ongoing effort to portray Hawai'i as more than sun, sand, surf. We want people to enjoy the beaches of Hawai'i but we want them to know that there's more here and a lot of what's here is unique to the world," he said.

A Web site with details about the Hawai'i Arts Season is in the works at www.gohawaii.com/arts.

Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470, or at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.