For many Native Hawaiians and others, the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel is a success story in preserving Hawaiian culture and values.

In addition to creating cultural experiences for guests, the hotel has an ongoing educational program that teaches all 300 employees — including managers — about the history and traditions of Hawaiian culture. Ke Kula O Ka Po'okela (School of Excellence) was created in 1986 by hotel manager Mike White and the late cultural historian George Kanahele.

Employees attend classes or excursions a few times a year — the hotel just completed its 54th class — covering topics that include Hawaiian mythology, language, geography, economics, and health and medicine. Employees also have gotten involved in community efforts that help preserve Hawaiian culture and promote other causes, White said.

"The important thing is that if you have been born and raised here ... your view of Hawai'i is really formed by, in some cases, people other than Native Hawaiians sharing their mana'o (thoughts)," White said. "We've had situations of which even a lot of the employees here were under the impression that certain things were Hawaiian when they weren't."

Other hotels also have been working to preserve the authenticity of Hawaiian culture and traditions.

The Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island offers regular tours of historic sites around the property, and story-telling events, and is working with others to preserve endangered species.

"I think we're coming to a time now where people are looking for more of a genuine experience," said Daniel "Kaniela" Akaka, Mauna Lani's director of cultural affairs and son of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka. "I think today you find more of it than we have in the past.

"Every island, every community has their kupuna, has their teachers. Every hotel and every establishment should utilize these resources."

For more than a decade, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts has had its employees undergo training in Native Hawaiian culture and values with a program, Ke 'Ano Wa'a (The Outrigger Way), created with the help of Kanahele.

Outrigger invites and pays Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners to conduct workshops for guests on topics such as medicinal plants and crafts, as well as lectures on subjects such as traditional fishing and voyaging techniques.

"You need to have a group of elders, so to speak, to use as a resource," said Ka'ipo Ho, Outrigger's human resources and ho'okipa (hospitality) consultant. "Let's face it, this industry does not have a good track record when it comes to the culture. And I think just recently through most of George's work ... and other organizations, we've worked hard to try to change that."

Some Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners Ho works with "have no problem telling us when we're not doing something correct," he said. "So it's our responsibility to make those adjustments."