Posted on: Saturday, September 4, 2004
HVCB ad campaign aims to boost fall tourism
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i's booming tourism industry is heading into the shoulder season — a traditionally slow time for tourism — and the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau hopes to minimize the impact with a new advertising campaign.
The HVCB will launch the nearly $1 million campaign in the next few days, with the bulk of on-air advertising to hit after the Labor Day weekend on the Travel Channel and its network of stations, including the Discovery Channel and TLC.
Ads also will run on the Outdoor Life Network, which targets the 175 million U.S. residents who consider themselves active and outdoorsy — exactly the kind of visitor HVCB wants.
The fall-season visitor is typically more active, said Jay Talwar, vice president of marketing for the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau. The state is selling September, October and November — the shoulder season — as an extension of summer.
The commercials, along with HVCB's print ads and revamped Web site, were unveiled at the HVCB's 102nd annual luncheon Thursday at the Sheraton Waikiki.
One of the commercials features a young local woman relaxing outside, as if preparing for a massage. As she invites you to come to Hawai'i for some much-needed relaxation, images of people surfing and snorkeling fill the screen.
"Our research shows that fall visitors are an active audience at home," Talwar said, "and they'd want to take advantages of activities in Hawai'i."
In addition, HVCB has been offering deals with local businesses to buy into its fall promotional campaign. Specific opportunities include partnering on advertisements in newspaper travel sections, 15- or 30-second commercial spots on national cable stations, online promotion on high-traffic portals and trade show participation.
"This is a new model for us," Talwar said.
HVCB had been the state's leisure marketing firm worldwide until this year. Now the bureau promotes Hawai'i to the state's largest tourist market — North America — as well as to planners of corporate meetings.
Earlier in the year, HVCB launched its first-ever campaign promoting the Hawai'i arts season in the spring; traffic from the U.S. Mainland between March and May rose 7 percent, to a record 1.1 million visitor arrivals.
In July HVCB began one of its first new programs since the shift in marketing responsibilities. The Aloha Live! concert tour, produced by WorldSound LLC, kicked off a 13-city tour on July 29 in Vancouver. Willie K., Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, Sean Na'auao and Robi Kahakalau headlined. The tour begins its second leg at the end of the month, and will hit seven Midwest and East Coast cities beginning Sept. 29.
The cost of HVCB's sponsorship of the concert tour was $60,000, or $3,000 per city.
"We knew people weren't going to be in front of their TVs," Talwar said, but in parks and at festivals during the summer months. "So we decided 'Let's go there.' "
Most of the 20 cities Aloha Live! will visit have nonstop flights to Hawai'i and are top producing markets for visitors to the Islands.
"The venues were packed, the response has been terrific, but most importantly it generated a buzz about Hawai'i through these cities," said HVCB president John Monahan at the luncheon.
The four local artists were media-trained to be unofficial ambassadors of the Islands, Talwar said. They did TV and newspaper interviews in the various cities where they performed.
Many industry experts are anticipating a record shoulder season in terms of visitor arrivals and hotel occupancy rates, based on this summer's stellar performance.
"It's been a great year and a record-breaking summer so far," Monahan said. "But HVCB isn't slowing down on its marketing campaign."
Reach Catherine E. Toth at 535-8103 or ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.
