Tour markets meetings in Isles
Advertiser Staff
Representatives from the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau are wrapping up a month-long tour of the East Coast and Asia to pitch the idea of hosting meetings in the islands.
Over the past three weeks HVCB representatives have attended trade show exhibitions in Washington, D.C., Shanghai, Boston and Atlanta. The tour ends this week with sales presentations in Tokyo and Osaka.
"We're very active with our marketing outreach each month, but April has been exceptional in our commitment to establish one-to-one contacts and cultivate sales leads in the continental U.S. and Asia," said Michael Murray, vice president of sales and marketing for corporate meetings and incentives.
"Our message to industry professionals in these far-flung markets is the same — that Hawai'i is the ideal meetings venue to host events that bring the business interests of East and West together in one setting," Murray said.
From today through Wednesday, HVCB's Asia regional sales director Shigeru Nishi will lead sales seminars in Tokyo and Osaka focused on meeting, incentive, and convention planners in association with Japan travel firms Jalpak, Nippon Travel Agency and H.I.S.
The efforts will culminate a campaign that began on April 3 with Springtime in the Park, the world's largest one-day association trade show in Washington, D.C. Springtime drew an estimated 4,500 meetings professionals from the surrounding area.
The tour also included a stop in Shanghai from April 8 to 11, where Murray led the HVCB team at the four-day IT&CM China trade show targeting new business from corporate and incentive groups in China. HVCB worked in collaboration with the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and Hawai'i Convention Center for the event which drew an estimated 1,500 meetings industry travel professionals in Asia.
The bureau also promoted Hawai'i to more than 2,000 meeting professionals at the MPI New England Meetings Industry Conference and Exposition in Boston, and in Atlanta, promoted Hawai'i to about 1,000 at the MPI Georgia Chapter Educational Forum and Tradeshow.
