Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona Jr. will travel separately to Asia next week to promote travel to Hawai'i as well as business investments and partnerships with the state.

Between them they will visit Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Japan and South Korea with the goal of increasing Asian visitors to Hawai'i, especially from emerging markets such as China, which earlier this year eased restrictions on leisure travel to the United States, as well as South Korea, where travelers will be eligible to visit the U.S. under a visa waiver program starting Nov. 17.

The State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism has predicted the number of tourists who come from South Korea to Hawai'i will double to 80,000 in the first year of the program and double again in 2010 to 160,000. The distance between Hawai'i and Seoul is about the same as between Hawai'i and Atlanta. Before the 1990s Asian economic collapse, South Korea sent up to 122,000 tourists a year to Hawai'i.

Lingle and Aiona will meet with airline officials to seek new air service and increases in the number of flights and/or seats from key Asian cities to Honolulu, Kona and Hilo. They will also work to expand business investments and partnerships, with a specific focus on renewable energy.

"The Asia tourism and business trips, which have been in the planning for several months, are part of my administration's five-point plan to create jobs and stimulate the economy," Lingle said. "It is critical that we do all we can to reach out to our traditional visitor base in Japan as well as emerging markets such as China and Korea to encourage people to visit Hawai'i, and to ensure our state is well positioned with increased flights and air seat capacity."

Earlier this year, Hawai'i hotel executives and tourism industry leaders encouraged the Lingle administration to increase the state's tourism outreach and marketing, including visiting key visitor markets to promote travel to the Islands.

The trip by Lingle and Aiona comes amid the worst slump in Hawaii's tourism industry since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. 2001.

DBEDT reported last month that visitor arrivals plunged 19.5 percent in September compared with the same month a year earlier. The September drop in arrivals followed a 17.3 percent decline in August.