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Hawaii sounded a taiko drum welcome in Waikiki on Friday calling all Pacific Rim visitors, especially those from its top international market of Japan, to attend the 21st annual Honolulu Festival.
The event is expected to light the night skies over Waikiki while providing a needed boost in visitor traffic from Japan during the weekend of March 7-8.
The annual festival, which is heavily supported by visitors from Japan, returns to Oahu at a time when tourism from Hawaii’s top international visitor market has softened.
According to statistics from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Japanese visitor arrivals to Hawaii in January decreased 4.9 percent year-over-year to 110,969 visitors.
Unfavorable exchange rates, higher consumer taxes in Japan and a struggling Japanese economy contributed to the drop.
But there’s evidence that even visitors from challenged markets will travel if they have a reason. According to HTA statistics, the number of Japanese visitors who came to get married in January rose 70.9 percent to 3,645. Likewise, the number of Japanese visitors who came to Hawaii as part of a business incentive travel package in January doubled to 6,991.
The Honolulu Festival provides an added draw in March, said Tsukasa Harufuku, president of the Honolulu Festival Foundation.
"The visitors that come to the festival from Japan keep increasing every year," Harufuku said. "More than 3,000 visitors from Japan are coming to participate in the festival, watch it or support family and friends. That’s a 15 percent increase over 2013, which was also a very good year."
Overall, the festival, which has generated an estimated $190 million in visitor spending over the last 20 years, is expected to draw as many as 5,000 visitors from all over the world, he said.
"The Honolulu Festival … provides the perfect venue for our visitors and Hawaii residents to celebrate how the diversity of music, art and culture brings us all together," said David Carey, president and chief executive officer for Outrigger Enterprises Group, a festival sponsor.
Event activities, many of which are free, will be spread across three venues, including the Hawai‘i Convention Center, Waikiki Beach Walk and Ala Moana Center. The convention center will host food providers, craft fairs, workshops, a kids corner, an anime corner and movie screenings. There also will be a bon dance, a symposium called Ecotourism in Hawaii, a relay race, and dance and cheering competitions.
Conchita Malaqui, Waikiki Beach Walk general manager, said the event will bring added traffic to the venue and help retailers boost sales from visitors and local residents.
"A lot of people come in just for this festival," she said.
Dave Erdman, president and chief executive officer of PacRim Marketing Group Inc. & PRTech LLC, said another festival benefit is that it tends to bring in more first-time visitors and expose them to a variety of shopping and entertainment districts on Oahu.
"During Hawaii’s shoulder season this kind of exposure is really important for all the retailers," he said.
Additionally, the festival helps build relationships between the people of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim, said Raiatea Helm, who performed Friday during the event at the Waikiki Beach Walk.
"I really want to get to know other musicians and people from the Pacific Rim," she said. "While other cultures are familiar with the concept of aloha, I feel that this is an opportunity for we as a people and Hawaii to share even more of our culture with the world."
The Honolulu Festival will conclude March 8 with a full day of events. WaikiKitchen Taste of Local will be hosted in Kapiolani Park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival’s traditional Waikiki Grand Parade will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Kalakaua Avenue featuring performers, floats, and groups from Pacific Rim countries and Hawaii.
"This year’s assortment of events and performances offers a wonderful experience for all to enjoy and I’m pleased to see that Honolulu’s sister city, Nagaoka, will bring the festivities to a grand finale with its incredible fireworks display over Waikiki," Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in a statement.
The fireworks show will take place at 8:30 p.m. March 8. The fireworks will be launched from barges positioned at the midpoint of Waikiki Beach and be choreographed to a live musical broadcast.
For more information and an event schedule, visit www.honolulufestival.com.
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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM