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The Hawaii Tourism Authority is taking its commitmentt o culture to another level by becoming the first state agency to publish its meeting agendas in English and Hawaiian.
"The Hawaii State Constitution specifies that Hawaiian and English are the official languages of Hawaii," said Mike McCartney, HTA president and CEO. "We’ve been working hard to ensure that we have the Hawaiian culture in our values of what we do. Hawaii’s host culture is what makes our islands unique and sets us apart from any other destination in the world."
The change comes three years after the state began greeting airport visitors in the language of the host culture. The 40-second welcome message, recorded in Hawaiian and English, has been broadcasting every 30 minutes since it was released in 2011 during the birthday month of Princess Ruth Keelikolani, who was one of the royal family’s strongest perpetuators of the Hawaiian language.
"Hawaii is the only state with two official languages, so we want to work on normalizing the Hawaiian language," said Keli‘ihoalani Wilson, the HTA’s director of Hawaiian cultural affairs. "We want culture to permeate through all of our programs. We are adding Hawaiian language in places that we think will have an impact."
The new HTA endeavor broadens the agency’s Hawaiian Culture Initiative, which supports the perpetuation of the Hawaiian language and its integration into the visitor experience, Wilson said.
The HTA offers Hawaiian language resources and training for its marketing partners through its Ma‘ema‘e program, she said.
For some time, HTA staff also have used bilingual business cards and stationery that put Hawaiian first and English second. In addition, last year the agency partnered with Bank of Hawaii to assist the bank in adding Hawaiian as a language choice on their ATM machines.
"HTA staff also have worked on developing an in-flight destination video in Hawaiian," Wilson said.
The bilingual meeting agendas piggyback on these earlier initiatives.
"Language is at the foundation of any culture, and HTA is keen on supporting the perpetuation of Hawaiian language into the future as it relates to continuing to make sure that Hawaiian is a living language in Hawaii, the place of its origin," Wilson said.
"HTA continues to look at other ways to perpetuate the Hawaiian language within its agency and programs."
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