The Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau has launched a $1.3 million marketing promotion featuring a contest for a free Hawai'i dream vacation to draw more visitors to the Islands during the traditionally slower fall season.

The HVCB, contracted by the state to market Hawai'i in North America, will run national ads encouraging travelers to create their own "Ultimate Hawai'i Dream Vacation" itinerary through a vacation planning tool kit on HVCB's Web site, http://www.gohawaii.com/ultimatevacation/. Participants may enter an online sweepstakes, and three winners will get a Hawai'i vacation.

The promotion is a way to show travelers "the diversity of Hawai'i and the unique activities, attractions and events of Hawai'i," said Jay Talwar, HVCB's vice president of marketing. The Web site allows travel browsers to choose from about 180 activities on six islands to create their dream vacation itinerary.

The campaign includes weekly ads in the Wall Street Journal as well as television ads on cable channels, such as the Travel Channel, Outdoor Life Network, National Geographic, the Food Network and the Style Network. There also will be online ads on Web sites including Forbes.com, Discovery.com, and Yahoo.

HVCB also has tapped former "American Idol" finalist Jasmine Trias to talk about Hawai'i activities and HVCB's dream vacation feature during live interviews Aug. 26 with magazine-style TV programs and morning news shows in Mainland travel markets. The interviews, conducted via satellite, will feature Trias at an "only in Hawai'i" setting as well as footage of outdoor activities visitors can enjoy here. HVCB is not paying Trias, who is free to talk about her new solo CD during the interviews, said Darlene Morikawa, HVCB's public relations and communications manager.

"What we're doing with this promotion is much more finely tuned marketing," Talwar said. "It's really working hard on the strategy of exposing more about the destination. It's not just talking about coming to sit on the beach, it's about really getting to be part of the destination. It's talking to someone as a traveler more than as a tourist, someone who wants to actively engage with the destination, someone who wants to learn about the culture and wants to participate in events."

The promotion is part of HVCB's fall campaign that targets higher-spending, activity-seeking travelers. HVCB's fall campaign includes promotions of fall events such as the Aloha Festivals as well as the Aloha Live! 2005 Hawaiian Music Concert Tour featuring local musicians in about a dozen Mainland cities.

It comes at a time when visitor arrivals and hotel rates are setting record numbers. State economists project Hawai'i will host a record 7.3 million visitors this year.

But tourism officials say marketing still is as important as ever.

"The best time to be proactive" is when business is doing well, said Ron Williams, head of the Activities and Attractions Association of Hawai'i and president and CEO of Atlantis Adventures.

"It's enormously competitive out there," said David McNeil of McNeil Wilson Communications, public relations consultant for HVCB. "Everybody's going after the same visitor. I don't think you can really afford to take your foot off the pedal and say, 'We're here.' "