Lions Clubs will meet in isles

The Lions Clubs International will bring the largest meeting of the year to the Hawai‘i Convention Center when it comes to Hono­lulu next year for its 98th annual international conference.

The event, scheduled for June 26-30, is expected to draw 18,000 delegates from around the world. Organizers say that the conference, which could bring up to 30,000 people including friends and family, is anticipated to bolster the state’s economy with an estimated $100 million in visitor spending and $10 million in state tax revenue. Multiple events are scheduled throughout the conference, including one of the state’s largest parades on Kala­kaua Avenue, a two-day Cultural Festival and Marketplace, entertainment, cultural demonstrations and a private concert at the Wai­kiki Shell with many of Hawaii’s top entertainers. As part of their mission, Lions Clubs delegates also will perform a major community service project at Palama Settlement.

"It’s just huge," said Brian Lynx, vice president of meetings, conventions and incentives for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "It’s going to generate close to 40,000 hotel room nights across 28 hotels across the state. It’s slightly bigger than the World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which is coming to Hawaii in 2016."

IUCN is expected to generate about 36,000 room nights when it brings 8,000 people from 160 countries to Hawaii in 2016, according to state estimates. The Hawaii Tourism Authority has estimated that IUCN will bring $37.7 million in visitor spending and $3.6 million in tax revenue for the isles. In comparison, Omni­Trak estimated that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation of 2011 brought some 20,000 international attendees and their friends and family to Hawaii and generated about $122.5 million in direct and indirect spending.

"While we’ve had other large events, these are notable because of their size and the way that they help position our state globally as an epicenter for business," Lynx said.

There are 61 Lions Clubs in Hawaii with a total of 1,800 members, with 2,000 youth members in their Leo Clubs in 35 high schools throughout the state. However, the Lions represent more than 1.35 million members in 46,000 clubs worldwide. The largest international contingent coming to Hawaii will be 5,000 delegates from Japan, who are preparing to host the Lions’ 99th annual conference in 2016 in Japan.

"It’s not people coming just from Japan; it’s people from the world coming together in aloha — that’s why this event really does belong here," Lynx said. "When people come internationally, they tend to stay longer and spend more in Hawaii."

Lynx said the Lions Club booking, which the convention center has been working on securing since at least 2002, will bring the Meet Hawaii program closer to its aggressive goal of filling 347,500 room nights next year. Meet Hawaii supports the meetings and conventions segment for HTA.

"Through August, Meet Hawaii is about 55 percent to our goal, so we’re running a little bit behind with 176,602 definites," Lynx said. "However, our tentative bookings, which stretch out to 2022, are running about 47 percent ahead of last year’s results. If we can convert the business that is coming into our state, we’ll be in a much better position."