Expect plenty of Hawai'i sights, sounds and aloha spirit in the San Francisco Bay Area this month as the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau leads a new marketing push in California.

The Bay Area is Hawai'i's second-largest market for visitors, according to Jay Talwar, HVCB's senior vice president of marketing.

In this challenging time for tourism everywhere, Hawai'i just recorded the 11th straight month of double-digit declines in visitor arrivals.

Talwar said this concerted push — at a cost of more than $1 million — has the support of hotels, airlines and the Neighbor Island visitor bureaus, working in a coordinated effort.

"The idea was if we all worked together, we could make more of a difference than if we did it separately," he said.

While the Los Angeles area remains the top place from which Hawai'i visitors originate, the community is more dispersed than the Bay Area.

If the concentrated campaign gets results, Talwar is ready to lobby for going on the road again to other places.

"If it works here, we can do it in the fall in the Pacific Northwest and then come back to L.A. the following year," he said.

While the troubled economy has taken its toll, Talwar thinks people worried about job losses, the stress of doing more with less and general anxiety need some time to unwind.

"People are just grinding," Talwar said. "At some point, they're going to need a break."

And just hearing the word Hawai'i prompts a welcome reaction from many people who have visited here or want to, he said. "People smile, their shoulders relax."

The campaign, which has been dubbed "Hawai'i: A Thousand Reasons to Smile," is being carried out by the HVCB with support from its four Neighbor Island chapters, Hawaiian Airlines and Starwood Hawaii.

The campaign will be seen in print, broadcast and online advertising, digital freeway bulletin boards, in train stations and BART cars, on adwalls and on Bay Area TV shows, including "The View From the Bay."

The campaign will direct consumers to visit http://www.GoHawaii.com/LotsofSmiles, a new HVCB microsite that will engage them with interactive promotions, offer information about Hawai'i events in the Bay Area, and let them plan their vacation.

Travel trade activities in the market will also bring further Hawai'i visibility to travel agents and wholesalers in the market via incentive promotions, sales calls, agent training seminars with key suppliers, e-marketing initiatives and webinars.

Each week the campaign will focus on an island and accompanying theme that reflects its destination appeal:

• March 1-7: O'ahu — Town and Country

• March 8-14: Kaua'i — 50 Years of Movies in Paradise

• March 15-21: Maui — Romance Me Maui

• March 22-28: Hawai'i's Big Island — Unlimited Adventure.

Hawai'i's music, cuisine and aloha spirit will also be showcased in Aloha Friday Pau Hana Concerts being held at Gordon Biersch restaurants in San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Jose. Each Friday in March, some of Hawai'i's top entertainers will perform, including Willie K., Raiatea Helm, Brother Noland, John Cruz, Cyril Pahinui and Taimane Gardner.