eTN, 17-9-2006
The 2006 Hawaii Tourism Conference held last week at the magnificent Hawaii Conference Centre in Honolulu attracted a record 500 tourism and hospitality industry professionals from all over Hawaii and mainland USA.
Organized by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the conference attracted a selection of leading local, American and overseas speakers covering topics ranging from Cultural tourism, sports tourism, crisis and recovery management , airline trends, volunteer tourism, business and incentive travel and destination marketing.
The theme of the conference was Aloha, Aku, Aloha Mai (the responsibility of Aloha). President and CEO of The Hawaii Tourism Authority, Rex Johnson, set the tone for the conference when he called on the Hawaii tourism industry for their commitment in making the tourism experience in Hawaii a happy, memorable, unique and welcoming experience.
The keynote speech was delivered by Emmy award tourism TV presenter and journalist Peter Greenberg, who gave an entertaining speech in which he called on travel professionals to treat tourism as an experience rather than just a business transaction.
Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle expressed her gratitude to the outstanding contribution of the tourism industry to economic and employment growth in Hawaii and of her own state government's commitment to the tourism industry. She recognized the need to upgrade infrastructure but explained some of the bureaucratic and legal barriers her administration has been forced to cope with and overcome in the development of sustainable enhancements.
