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Hawaii Arukikata, the largest commercial website about Hawaii in the Japanese language, hit a milestone last month when its Twitter account attracted 10,000 followers, emphasizing the opportunities that additional investment in social media can bring to the tourism industry.
"For more than 10 years, the Web portal site has been a way for those who love Hawaii to stay in touch with the islands, learn more and share their thoughts and feelings about Hawaii," said Akiko Ching, chief editor and content manager of new media and Web portal sites at PacRim Marketing Group, which helps businesses, including Hawaii Arukikata, enlarge their Asian international traveler market.
PacRim’s Twitter growth builds on the success of its website, which attracts 600,000 visitors and 2.8 million page views per month, and confirms the growing importance of social media in Japan, Ching said.
During the past two years, PacRim has tweeted more than 13,567 messages about Hawaii, Ching said. Travelers use the feed to find out what there is to see and do in Hawaii, she said. However, its popularity grew as it played a more serious role during and after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, Ching said.
"We addressed the crisis and Japanese peoples’ needs directly, conversing on Twitter how those affected could find help and posting comforting thoughts and graphics links," she said.
By reaching out to Japan to help in the aftermath of the disasters, Hawaii reinforced its relationship with Japan.
Social media will also help promote Golden Week this year, the string of five Japanese national holidays in the last week of April and first week of May. Many Japanese take advantage of the time off to travel overseas.
The favorable yen-dollar exchange rate this year and increased flights to Hawaii should bolster this year’s Golden Week, said Dave Erdman, president and CEO of PacRim Marketing.
"It should be stronger than last year’s with regard to visitor numbers and spending," Erdman said. "Hawaii has repeatedly shown it is a safe place to relax and get away."
PacRim is using a mix of the Hawaii Arukikata website, video, Twitter and Facebook, combined with editorial content and photos as well as social media conversation about Golden Week to promote the holidays, he said.
The company encourages all of its clients to have a presence on websites in Asian languages and to use video, Twitter and Facebook to connect with customers, Erdman said.
"We were the first of any travel-related companies using Twitter in Japanese for Hawaii, and maybe the first in the entire Japanese travel industry, according to industry sources," he said.
PacRim also suggests combining online marketing with print and traditional media in Asian languages, he said.
"Web portals, Twitter, video, Facebook — when used together — help increase SEO (search engine optimization), which makes our Asian-language websites easier for travelers to find when searching for anything about Hawaii," Erdman said.
PacRim’s client Ala Moana Center has used this approach successfully, said Kimberly Fujinaka, PacRim’s integrated marketing and client services manager.
In late 2011 Ala Moana expanded its social media activity to all Asian markets, with official video channels on YouTube Japan, Pandora TV Korea and Youku China, Fujinaka said.
This spring the shopping center also started an official Japanese-language Facebook page and Japanese-language Twitter account, she said.
"Whether consumers are learning about upcoming promotions during their Golden Week trip to Hawaii, reading about sales as they are walking the mall or simply watching event videos and tuning in as a fan, this multiplatform strategy supports the most up-to-date exchange of information and customer engagement," Fujinaka said.
For example, Japanese gift redemptions were significant when www.Hawaii-Arukikata.com tweeted about a recent Shop a Le’a promotion that gave away free Le Sportsac Tote Bags to shoppers who could produce $300 worth of receipts during that time, she said.
As a result of PacRim’s success in using social media marketing in Japan, the company also is making advances into Korea and China, Ching said.
"We are investing more into social media marketing because of how well it is being received," she said.
PacRim hopes to build a similar following for its Korean website, which was introduced three years ago and averages 25,000 page views per month, and for its Chinese website, which was introduced March 1, Ching said.
"Our goal is to have our websites be the No. 1 commercial websites for Hawaii in three languages: Japanese, Korean and Chinese," she said.
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STAR-ADVERTISER / 2010