A Waipahu plantation kid who worked his way up to president of United Airlines, developers and hotel executives and iconic Olympic athlete Duke Kahanamoku are among the pioneers of Hawai'i tourism soon to be honored in a new hall of fame.

Big Island state Rep. Bob Herkes, a veteran of the visitor industry himself, spurred the creation of the Hawai'i Hospitality Hall of Fame and worked with others in the industry as a way to recognize and remember the early innovators.

The list includes 26 people who have died — two married couples, folks from airlines, hotels, tour companies, rental cars and even a composer. They will be honored at a dinner in November, with the permanent hall to be set up at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

"They established Hawai'i's biggest industry," Herkes said. "A lot of this was hard times. And through their perseverance and hard work they built this industry."

Herkes, 76, has worked in the hotel industry off and on since 1948. "I spent most of my life in the industry," but he worried that the latest generation in tourism had no idea of its history.

"How many people know that this guy from Waipahu — Pat Patterson — created United Airlines? I think that's a pretty little-known fact." Born in 1899, Patterson was the son of an O'ahu Sugar Co. overseer whose dad died when Pat was 13.

Patterson moved to San Francisco as a teen, eventually landing at United Airlines where he became president in 1934 and helped build the company into the world's largest commercial carrier. He initiated Mainland flights to Hawai'i in 1947 when a 10-hour trip cost $135.

Herkes knows that publishing one list will prompt more questions and suggestions about who's on it. He said the current list of 26 people was narrowed from more than 150 names.

Longtime industry veteran Peter Fithian, of Greeters of Hawai'i, also helped choose those honored. "It's important to remember how we got here," he said.

"Tourism didn't just happen. There was a lot of hard work by a lot of terrific people," Fithian said.

While the list has more hotel executives than any other segment of the industry, it also includes tour operators who marketed the Islands to the middle class, and even iconic singer Don Ho.

He said Duke Kahanamoku was an easy unanimous choice for the panel in his role of ambassador of aloha. "He brought the name Hawai'i to the rest of the world," Herkes said.

Industrialist Henry Kaiser may be best known now for developing Hawai'i Kai but left his stamp on tourism as well. He came to Hawai'i in 1954 on a vacation but decided to stay.

He was inspired to build his own Waikiki hotel after he couldn't get the room he'd booked because the hotel was full. He built the Hawaiian Village hotel, later taken over by Hilton.

Those who narrowed the list know that not every selection will be met with equal enthusiasm. Developer Chris Hemmeter is credited with pushing Hawai'i into the luxury resort market.

The hall of fame is a volunteer organization supported by private grants. The November dinner to kick off the hall of fame will support the University of Hawai'i School of Travel Industry Management.

Industry veteran Frank Haas, who now serves on the UH travel faculty, said the hall of fame plaques will be displayed on the third floor of the Hawai'i Convention Center but the exact design is still being determined.

Hemmeter gets credit for inventing "the fantasy resort" bumping up the level of hotels to the luxury resort, complete with trams, boats and lavish art.

"They were all innovators," Haas said. "They're all from a time when Hawai'i was inventing itself."

Even those who stirred controversy by shaking things up, Haas said. "Chris Hemmeter? Like him or not, he had a vision."

The hotel executives honored include Lyle Guslander and Grace Buscher Guslander, best known for their work with Island Holidays and Kaua'i's famous Coco Palms Resort.

Coco Palms was famed for its shell sinks and its dramatic backdrop for the movie wedding of Elvis Presley's character in "Blue Hawaii."

But Haas said the Guslanders were both hardworking innovators. He tells the story of Grace Guslander facing a vexing problem with guests complaining about noisy toads at the scenic Coco Palms resort.

"They had bufos, frogs on the property and guests were complaining about the noise," Haas said. "But what Grace did is she put little ceramic frogs in the bathrooms and said that was part of the ambience of the hotel."

In the end, Haas said she turned a problem into a perk with people asking for those rooms.

He described Hung Wo Ching as a scrappy Chinese entrepreneur who basically started a new airline in the face of an exclusive power structure. "He goes back to the days where there was this big five white establishment."

Herkes said the industry has changed from one dominated by home-based businesses to one primarily run by bigger national companies. "It's no longer homegrown like it was in those days. that's a big difference."

Composer R. Alex Anderson wrote hapa-haole hits that took Hawai'i as a dream destination across the globe. His songs included "Mele Kalikimaka," which was recorded by Bing Crosby, among many others.

He is often referred to as Hawai'i's most prolific hapa-haole composer with such classics as "Lovely Hula Hands" and the playful "Cockeyed Mayor of Kaunakakai."

Haas said the hall can provide a link between the industry of today and the roots of the past.

"There was this sense that we were sort of a homegrown industry," Haas said. "We all helped each other. It would be nice to reconnect with that sort of heritage."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.