State to host international meeting

It took Hawaii about six years to secure the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s coveted 2016 World Conservation Congress, and now the real work begins as organizers begin to raise the $11.5 million needed to pull the event off.

"We’ve got a relatively short time to raise a relatively large amount of money. However, I think we’ve laid a strong groundwork both locally and nationally to establish strong private-sector financial support," said Chipper Wichman, co-chair of the Hawaii IUCN Steering Committee, formed with a grass-roots effort initiated in 2008 to bring the large international meeting to Hawaii.

IUCN decision-makers, who were also considering Turkey as a potential congress venue, notified Hawaii organizers Tuesday night that they had decided to accept the state’s host proposal.

As part of Hawaii’s agreement with IUCN, the state is responsible for about half of the event’s $20 million or so budget. In contrast, the host committee that brought the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to Hawaii in 2011 only raised about $4 million in mostly local dollars for the two-day event.

The congress, which will take place in Honolulu Sept. 1-10, 2016, is expected to bring about 8,000 leaders from government, the public sector, nongovernmental organizations, business, United Nations agencies and indigenous and grass-roots organizations to Hawaii.

The purpose of the event, which is held every four years and last took place in 2012 in Jeju, Republic of Korea, is to work toward solving the world’s most pressing environment and development challenges.

"This is the Olympics of conservation," said Mark McGuffie, a steering committee member and managing director of Enterprise Hono­lulu. "The benefits go way beyond tourism. We have many, many islands in the Pacific that are being threatened and we have our own challenges here in Hawaii. The chance to collaborate with 160 nations provides a great opportunity to make some major changes that protect what we have and restore what we should." 

Wichman said the event’s dual importance has prompted the Hawaii Legislature to allocate $4 million for the effort, which currently falls under the kuleana of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and soon will be transferred to the 2016 World Conservation Congress Hawaii Host Committee.

"Host Committee appointments are being discussed and are expected to be in place in the next 30 days," said Randy Tanaka, who has been serving as the committee’s acting executive director since losing his job as interim general manager at the Hawai‘i Convention Center on Jan. 1 when AEG Facilities took over center operations.

Tanaka said June Matsu­moto, who also lost her job as the center’s director of marketing and business development in the AEG Facilities transition, has played a substantial role in securing the Congress and will continue to be part of his team, whose first major focus will be fundraising.

"The state has put up substantial investment as the backstop, but our intention is to go out and seek funding. The more money that we raise the better and more diverse the conference will be," Tanaka said.

"It takes substantial investment to put on a conference of this magnitude. We were told the Korean government put nearly $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions into the event when they hosted it in 2012. That’s the kind of investments that destinations will make for the right piece of business and the chance to have standing on the world stage." 

Tanaka and other supporters of the conference say Hawaii’s investment will more than pay off when it realizes the event’s substantial economic, educational and relationship-building benefits.

The event, which is the first Congress to be held in the United States since 1948, could fill thousands of Hawaii hotel rooms in what is traditionally the state’s offseason.

"The economic impact is estimated at $37.7 million in visitor spending and $3.6 million in tax," said Brian Lynx, vice president of meetings, conventions and incentives for the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. "Hawaii’s selection further validates our position as an ideal location for high-level meetings and the cross-pollination of groundbreaking, world-changing vision and ideas.

"Their confidence in our ability to host a global conference of this scale is no doubt bolstered by our reputation for successfully handling other conventions of this scope and importance."

Beth Churchill, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Aqua Hospitality, said the company is looking forward to the Congress’ arrival.

"We think that it’s a great opportunity to welcome a diverse group of international attendees during the event in Honolulu and to get them out to the neighbor islands for pre- and post-visits," Churchill said. "We met with the IUCN during a reception earlier this year when Hawaii was pitching this piece of business and they actually went to the Volcano House on Hawaii island. It’s clear that they want to see and experience all that Hawaii has to offer." 

Tanaka added that the event gives Hawaii a chance to continue building on the success of the APEC conference of heads of state in 2011. Critics say APEC generated mostly intangible benefits and fell short of its goal of bringing 20,000 visitors and $120 million in economic benefits to the state.

"‘Where are these people?’ was a common phrase when APEC came," said Dave Moskowitz, who works in Waikiki’s food and beverage market. "This event sounds great from the conservation aspect, but is it really fair to spend public money for a select small group to get together?"