Hawaii’s commitment to imparting a sense of aloha involves even more than the cultural experiences available to visitors. It extends behind the scenes with such efforts as cultural training for the employees of hotels and local tourism organizations, including the Hawaii Visitors Convention Bureau (HVCB) and Hawaii Convention Center, by the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NHHA).
A nonprofit organization funded by the state-run Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), NHHA was founded in 1997 as part of HTA’s Hawaiian Cultural Initiative, a long-term plan to infuse the visitor industry with Hawaiian language, history, sense of place, and traditions.
“(NHHA) is there to share a sense of place—not just for visitors, but for those who work in the hospitality industry,” says Michael Murray, vice president of sales and marketing for the Corporate, Meetings and Incentives division of the HVCB. “At the bureau we’ve all gone through the cultural training and it’s been a great benefit.”
Randy Tanaka, assistant general manager of the Hawaii Convention Center, says the cultural training has been especially valuable since many hospitality employees, including those at the convention center, are not longtime residents of Hawaii.
“We have a staff from all over the world,” he says. “They need to understand the culture and significance of our destination, so we are continuing to immerse them in Hawaiian culture—we’re even participating in a traditional taro planting. We want them to understand the sense of aloha and bring it to the workplace.”
According to Tanaka, the objective is to provide a gracious atmosphere that enhances the meetings experience.
“We want our people to understand why the convention center was built and how to welcome the conventioneer,” he says. “It all ties in with the building itself, how it was designed to give a sense of place with the native plants and artwork. The business and aloha elements work together.”
The potential impact this training has on groups meeting at the center is reflected in a testimonial from Kelli Gilmore, meeting manager and exhibit coordinator for the Washington D.C.-based American Astrological Society, who says that interaction between her delegates and convention center staff had a “family” feel.
“At the end of the day, these were people we could break bread with,” she says. “The aloha spirit does exist—it is something that comes from within.”
Marriott Resorts Hawaii is among the hotel companies also heavily involved in cultural training, working with Hawaiian cultural expert Ramsay Taum, whose “Host Culture Sense of Place” has been used to train over 5,000 Marriott employees, including senior management, at Marriott properties throughout the islands.
“What we’re doing is providing [employees] with a way of seeing their place of employment in a different way, to better understand this is just not a workplace,” says Taum, an NHHA advisor and administrator at the University of Hawaii’s School of Travel Industry Management. “It’s important to invigorate their role as being a host, regardless of their job titles.”
According to Taum, a key message of the training is for the need for “hosts” to provide a welcoming atmosphere in keeping with Hawaiian traditions.
“The host not only provides the guest with a place to eat and sleep, but does so in an atmosphere that invites the guests to engage in activities that have a mutual benefit,” he says. “This kind of reciprocity agreement is core to the overarching principle and value we know of as aloha. When practiced in its truest form, people and place are left better than when we came upon them.
“It’s about becoming excited about your sense of place and sharing stories with the guests to create a more authentic Hawaiian experience.”
