"What we have found in many instances that the information they're giving is totally inaccurate about whatever it may be, about a particular history of the place, about an ali'i, about a cultural tradition, you name it," Arquette said.

Efforts to ensure that the visitor industry accurately represents and respects Hawaiian culture aren't new, and many acknowledge tourism has made strides in certain areas. But Arquette and others say more needs to be done.

PERPETUATING CULTURE

The Hawai'i Tourism Authority more than doubled its funding for Native Hawaiian programs this year to $1.5 million. Gov. Linda Lingle appointed two Native Hawaiian members to the HTA board last year. The agency also included honoring and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture and community among its nine initiatives in its 10-year strategic plan covering 2005 through 2015.

"Wherever we went around the various counties, issues about losing our identity and the uniqueness of Hawai'i came up, and to that end, we've got to make sure that we don't do that," said Hawai'i Tourism Authority CEO and president Rex Johnson. "We don't want to be like any other sand-and-surf destination. Hawai'i is a special, unique place because of the Hawaiian culture."

UH's School of Travel Industry Management is working on an outreach program to provide more opportunities for Hawaiian students to enter and graduate from the school, a goal included in a 2004 resolution from the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. The resolution also called on the school to increase the number of Native Hawaiian faculty and staff, which dean Walter Jamieson supports.

The travel industry management school also put together a Native Hawaiian Advisory Council last year, has been offering a course on "management by Hawaiian values," and is looking at more initiatives that emphasize the importance of the host culture.

The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association — which was founded in 1997 by businessman Kenneth Brown and the late cultural historian George Kanahele — was recently hired by the HTA to assist the agency with its Hawaiian culture initiative. Arquette, former chief executive of the nonprofit organization Alu Like Inc., joined the association in May as its first executive director and is seeking support from other institutions to carry out the organization's work.

'STRONGER PRESENCE'

The association plans to meet with Native Hawaiian organizations, the community and cultural practitioners statewide through next year, "really engaging Hawaiian communities and getting their thoughts as to what are some of the things that we need to do to correct and improve in the industry," Arquette said.

"Since tourism is the No. 1 industry in Hawai'i, and it probably never will change because we are an island economy, it's really key from my perspective that Native Hawaiians have a stronger presence in the visitor industry and ... they're up there right alongside everyone else and leading the efforts to promote more cultural-based tourism," she said. "We need to move it forward to this next level out of the stage we've been in, which is sort of alienation."

The efforts in the community will culminate in a statewide Native Hawaiian conference on tourism tentatively set for next spring that planners hope will result in a "greater appreciation and understanding of the role that Hawaiian culture, traditions and values can play in our visitor industry," Arquette said.

Listening to the concerns of the Hawaiian community is key.

"The industry now has an opportunity to work in partnership with communities and cultures and not superimpose upon them the economic model that the guest is always right," said Taum, also associate director of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association. "This is an opportunity for them to turn it around and say how does the host benefit. What's good for the resident should be good for the guest."

Efforts to involve more Native Hawaiians to help shape the visitor industry are necessary, and it's about time, said Toni Lee, president of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

"It's exciting that we do this, because that's what is needed for our Hawaiian people and for the state of Hawai'i so that we are educating everybody on the need of getting our people in leadership positions in tourism," said Lee. "It will help the whole industry because we are here, the culture is ours, we've grown up in it, we know it, we live it."

It's unclear what kind of impact this effort will ultimately have on Hawai'i's visitor industry, which generates nearly $11 billion in tourist spending a year. While it's difficult to find anyone in the industry who will argue against preserving Hawaiian culture and values, exactly what that means and how to carry it out is sometimes subject to different interpretations.

"There's a segment of the industry that is just not interested, and they tend to continue to perpetuate what I call the colonizing model," said Peter Apo, director of the Hawaiian Hospitality Institute, the consulting arm of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association. "But I'm surprised at the number of visitor institutions that are interested. But they don't know who to talk to."

That's where the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association can help, he said.

"When we talk about Hawaiian culture, it's not just Native Hawaiian culture, it's about the culture of Hawai'i, about the contribution that people who are raised in Hawai'i, who have the spirit, people who I describe as being of Hawai'i, rather than just from Hawai'i," Apo said. "Tremendous resource, and it's so overlooked by the industry."

Arquette and tourism officials say it's in the visitor industry's best interest to take more steps to perpetuate and protect Hawaiian culture because visitors are becoming more sophisticated and are seeking more authentic cultural experiences.

"Aside from (being) the right thing to do, (many studies show) that's where the trends are moving," Arquette said.

Visitors in Waikiki last week appear to support that.

HAWAIIAN TOUCH

Vermont teacher Hasse Halley made sure to visit the Bishop Museum and the Polynesian Cultural Center. She said she loves Hawaiian music and "the greeting of the lei and the kiss."

"It's what makes this community unique, and without it, it's going to be lost forever and then we're all just going to be the same," said Halley, 64. "You won't know whether you're in Miami Beach, Florida, or Honolulu."

Canadian resident Chris Fleming, visiting Hawai'i with his family, felt the same way.

"My upbringing is that you go somewhere, you learn about the people," he said. "A beach is a beach, a city is a city, but if you learn more about the people and where you are, you take back more."

British residents David and Jean Watkins, who are in their 50s, planned to explore the island beyond Waikiki.

"We don't actually know what the culture is, walking around here," said David Watkins, a management professor here for a conference. "I find a lot of cheap souvenirs that you could get anywhere."

Jean Watkins, an education adviser, said: "I'd like to see the real Hawaiian crafts and culture."

There are some Native Hawaiians, however, who don't welcome the visitor industry at all. Some of those feelings were ignited following last week's 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that struck down as "unlawful race discrimination" Kamehameha Schools' century-old admissions policy giving preference to Hawaiians.

Native Hawaiian activist Keali'i Gora has said he and others are going to go into Waikiki and "hit the economic situation, we're going to hit them hard and we're going to tell them leave, tell the tourists to leave. Because we're not pleased with what's going on."

Lee, of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, said the majority of Hawaiians don't feel that way. "How do you teach people about Hawai'i if you don't bring them here?" she said.

But Native Hawaiians also are uniting in support of Kamehameha Schools, and that can contribute to discussions in other areas affecting Hawaiians, including tourism.

"I think it can help because it's creating opportunities for a lot more discussion on all areas that impact Native Hawaiians in the state," Arquette said.

Taum said more businesses are looking at how they can incorporate more Hawaiian culture and values and maintain their bottom line.

"Ultimately that's going to be the deciding factor: whether they can make money on it," Taum said. "But then you have people like Mike White at Ka'anapali (Beach Hotel), which makes money, (and) they've made a commitment to Hawaiian culture and the place. ... It's not like it can't be done, it's just a matter of what you really want to do."