Posted on: Sunday, December 28, 2003
TOURISM
Tourism work proves less steady than before
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Going to work still a pleasure Godfrey Maeshiro, a bellman at the Princess Kaiulani, has had the job for 37 years but never gets tired of answering the same questions — "How do you get to the shopping center? Where's the bus?" — "Because," he said, "they're all different people. "I still look forward to going to work each morning," he said. But he and other bellmen have noticed, "the older we get the bags seem to get heavier." "A lot of them take too much," Maeshiro said. "Maybe we're just getting older, we feel it more." "Every 10 minutes, I'm switching gears to do something else and I think that makes it interesting for me." And every so often, he still pulls out his guitar and sings, entertaining employees and guests at the hotel. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser |
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| 'My chance to dance' Malu Akiona, a professional dancer in Waikiki, would work for free if he could. "I love to dance," said Akiona, 22. "But of course I need money." So he works for about $11.50 an hour in the Magic of Polynesia show at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. He comes from a family of Magic of Polynesia dancers, "so when I was little I always came to the show and I always enjoyed watching the dancing. And then I had my chance to dance." Akiona doesn't consider entertaining tourists a job — it's a passion. "Tourism — without it of course Hawai'i can't survive," he said. "A lot of times I talk to my friends and talk to people on the Mainland and they tell me, 'Oh, it used to be so beautiful there and now you've got all the buildings.' I tell them, 'Yeah, but that's the only way we make our living right now.' Without the tourism, without the buildings, without all the things, we can't provide for all the things that we do have. That's why I tell them, I tell them I enjoy it. It's good that they're here.""Every 10 minutes, I'm switching gears to do something else and I think that makes it interesting for me." And every so often, he still pulls out his guitar and sings, entertaining employees and guests at the hotel. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
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| Came in through the backside Paul Yokota, 47, started working in the tourism industry as a singer and guitarist playing in nightclubs and in Waikiki. "I came in through the backside, through the banquet areas and the loading docks because that's where the musicians came in," Yokota said. Now he's general manager at the Hawaii Prince Hotel, and still finds it interesting."I love the fact that I get to work with so many people in the course of the day," Yokota said. "Every 10 minutes, I'm switching gears to do something else and I think that makes it interesting for me." And every so often, he still pulls out his guitar and sings, entertaining employees and guests at the hotel. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser |
As part of a family of Waikiki performers, Akiona and his relatives see their fortunes fluctuate with each feast-and-famine turn in tourism.
Akiona, 22, is a dancer for the Magic of Polynesia show at the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel. When there aren't enough tourists paying to see the show headlined by magician John Hirokawa, management scales down from two shows a night to one.
The cuts immediately reduce the pay and the job benefits for Akiona and other dancers. Since September, the Magic of Polynesia's one nightly show has earned Akiona just about $35 for each performance.
"When we cut down to one show, that's when people have to start looking for other (jobs)," Akiona said. "Financially, it's not the greatest."
In the tumultuous tourism industry, the outlook for 2004 remains far from certain. The industry is so closely tied to everything from consumer spending trends to terrorist incidents that many tourism executives are wont to say they are "cautiously optimistic barring unforeseen incidents."
Projections improve
The good news is the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism forecasts about 6.8 million visitors for next year and tourist spending close to $11.3 billion. The Hawai'i Tourism Authority has a more modest 2004 target of about 6.7 million visitors.
Either arrival number would be an improvement over this year, when an estimated 6.4 million tourists visited the Islands and spent about $10.5 billion. Tourists from the Mainland continue to sustain the visitor industry while international travel has been slow and unpredictable.
Visitor industry leaders are far more optimistic than they were at this time last year when a war with Iraq was on the horizon. But their upbeat outlook is tempered by a spotty recovery in tourism: Japanese visitor arrivals still disappoint the industry and long-term trends are deeply troublesome.
Among the biggest threats to Hawai'i are vacation spots like Bali, Guam, Mexico and the Caribbean, all of which are competing more fiercely than ever for tourism dollars.
"Before we may have had the attitude that no matter what we do, people will come," said Paul Yokota, Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki general manager. But tourists have a lot of options, he said, and some are cheaper than Hawai'i.
"There are so many terrific destinations out there. ... We are much more realistic about where we stand in the marketplace and what we need to do to get the guests."
Gov. Linda Lingle's administration said updating Hawai'i's aging tourism infrastructure will be a priority next year. Tourism officials worry about improving everything from hotels to airports to parks and trails to keep the state competitive with other top resorts.
Tourists notice cutbacks
Aside from the physical infrastructure, Godfrey Maeshiro, a 57-year-old bellman at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani in Waikiki, said tourists are "always comparing us to other destinations where they're provided more service."
Many Hawai'i hotels reduced their staffs by as much as 10 percent compared to pre-Sept. 11 days.
"A lot of them are surprised that we don't have valet service or concierge service, and I think it's mainly due to the way they're used to traveling on the Mainland," Maeshiro said. "When the service is cut, they notice it right away."
The cutbacks also affect employees who sustain the industry. As tourism businesses do more with less, "everybody has stress in their jobs," said Yokota.
And Yokota, 47, should know. He grew up in Honolulu and has been involved in the tourism industry for 26 years. His career has taken him to Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Maui and the Big Island, then back to Honolulu.
"One of the reasons I worked so hard to advance myself was to be able to have the opportunity to come back here," Yokota said. "I know that we are special here."
But will that be enough anymore? Among the more troubling signs Hawai'i faces is the lower proportion of first-time visitors to Hawai'i, spurring the need to work harder to generate new business.
With repeat visitors making up about 62 percent of the total, "the people are spending less, going to less shows and less luaus, less tours," Maeshiro said.
Yet another worry is the recovery from years of sluggish Japanese tourism.
The market has shrunk as Japan's economy continues to struggle, and hotels around the world are jockeying for the business, particularly from traveling executives.
"Everybody's competing for that market," Yokota said.
The good news is that Japanese business appears to be stabilizing.
"Japan's economy is coming up, the yen's dropped, the whole SARS thing is a thing of the past," said Marsha Wienert, Lingle's tourism liaison. "I really think that 2004 could be a banner year," with a recovery in leisure and business travel.
Recovery comes slowly
Maeshiro, who has been a bellman at the Princess Kaiulani for 37 years, sees Hawai'i's current struggle as another phase in the ebb and flow of tourism.
"When I started, we had no Japanese, so I could see the Japanese market slowly building," Maeshiro said. "When 9/11 happened and the war and SARS, it dropped off dramatically. But slowly, they're back, and I think it's going to be increasing."
Such a turnaround would be a welcome development for Akiona. His mother and sister also work in the tourism industry, so when fewer tourists come to the Islands, there is less money to go around for the entire family.
"Our family hurts," Akiona said. "They all do things that are involved with tourism, and they all hurt really bad."
Akiona will get a little more pay with the Magic of Polynesia show returning to two performances a night in late December and early January, but that is only a temporary boost for the busy holiday season.
The shifting schedule makes it difficult for those with day jobs to adjust, and is another sign of the instability that has become the norm in the visitor industry.
"Tourism here is not as good as it was five, 10 years ago," said Jennifer Moses, a dancer in the show. "It's no longer as stable as it was."
Magic of Polynesia showroom manager Chuck Lee acknowledges it may take years before the numbers of Japanese visitors, a key market for the show, rebound to levels seen in the mid-1990s.
"Realistically, it's gonna take a while," Lee said. Still, he believes "next year should be a very promising year for everyone."
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470, or at kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.
