Waikiki a priority for tourism liaison

By Bruce Dunford
Associated Press

Waikiki, considered by many to offer the world's most famous beach, has been hit by a tourism slump. Although Neighbor Islands reported increases in visitors, O'ahu posted a 10.3 percent decline in April from a year earlier. Advertiser library photo • March 26, 2003

"I do think it needs more help at this time than do the Neighbor Islands," she said.

Wienert, the executive director of the Maui Visitors Bureau, was named by Lingle earlier this month to the newly created Cabinet-level position to coordinate the state's long-term tourism strategy.

Lingle leaves July 5 for a trip to Japan to help stimulate tourism to the Islands from that key market, down about 30 percent behind a year ago.

"Clearly, Waikiki is most dependent on Japanese visitors," Lingle said. "It's its biggest market, unlike the Neighbor Islands."

Recent figures from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism show visitors to Maui County were up 10.3 percent in April over April 2002, while Kaua'i saw a 5.2 percent increase and the Big Island a 2.2 percent increase. O'ahu saw a 10.3 percent decline.

Hotel occupancy figures reflect those figures, with Maui hotels reporting 81.2 percent occupancy during the third week in May, up 10.5 percent from the year before, compared to O'ahu's average occupancy of 63.9 percent, down 9.7 percent from 2002, according to Hospitality Advisors LLC, a leading tourist industry consulting firm.

On Friday, Lingle vetoed a measure extending a state income tax credit on hotel construction and renovations as well as commercial construction in a resort area.

The most visible lobbyist for that tax credit was Outrigger Enterprises, the Hawai'i-based hotel chain that plans a $300 million redevelopment of its Lewers Street properties in Waikiki and that insisted the tax credit was key in getting financing.

Asked about her veto's possible impact on plans by Outrigger and others for making Waikiki more attractive to visitors, Lingle said "there are a lot of other ways we can help."

The governor said changing how Waikiki is marketed is one alternative, adding that Wienert is an expert in that area. She said another is sand replenishment on Waikiki Beach.

Lawmakers included $700,000 in the state budget to bring in sand to widen the beach between the North Kuhio Beach groin and the Kapahulu storm drain.

Lingle reiterated that the hotel construction and renovation tax credit "is just something the state can't afford at this time."