While APEC will showcase Hawaii as an international meetings destination, mid-Pacific meetings have already been a growing area for the state, according to Joe Davis, general manager of the Hawaii Convention Center.
“We’ve become a real international gathering place—the perception that we’re distant is no longer there,” he says. “The fastest-growing economies are Asia/Pacific, so Hawaii is a great place to link up.”
Angela Vento, regional director of sales and marketing for Starwood Hawaii, agrees, noting that her hotels are seeing more corporate customers booking meetings designed to aid their expansion plans into Asia/Pacific destinations.
“The fact that China and India are growing so much in technology and manufacturing is a real catalyst for global meetings business here,” she says. “APEC will help us grow this further. Another plus is expanding international air service—there’s a new charter flight from Shanghai to Honolulu starting in August, plus new service from Seoul and Australia.”
Chris Tatum, vice president for Marriott International-Hawaii, sees a similar trend, adding that corporate meetings business from Japan, which was dealt a blow by last spring’s earthquake and tsunami, is starting to come back.
“There’s definitely more of the East-meets-West kind of meeting happening now,” he says. “Companies that are represented in both parts of the world see Hawaii as a good place for their training.”
A significant event coming to the Hawaii Convention Center in September will be the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit, expected to draw 1,500 delegates from 14 countries. Davis notes that it reflects not only Hawaii’s growing emphasis on international meetings, but its commitment to sustainability.
“Hawaii has a mandate to be 70 percent sustainable by 2013,” he says. “We are marketing our state’s assets in terms of space and ocean research, biotechnology and alternative energy.”
Davis adds that the convention center strives to be a major catalyst for growing international business.
“We’re offering microsites in multiple languages for international conventions, and soon our website will go through a major renovation that will include a home page in multiple languages,” he says. “We also have a global outreach program to help associations build their international membership and attendance.”
While most international meetings take place on Oahu, the neighbor islands are also anticipating growth in this area.
“We’re seeing more activity on the international side happening in Honolulu—and we know when that happens, we follow a year or two later,” says Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau. “In general, we’re seeing more opportunity in international markets, particularly Canada, which has grown substantially for us.”
