A private nonprofit made up of Hawaii business leaders formally announced plans yesterday to help host the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Honolulu Nov. 12-13, 2011.

Besides ensuring a pleasant and rewarding experience for both those attending the conference and kamaaina, the Hawaii Host Committee wants to show off the state to the world as the bridge between the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region, and an attractive destination for the business travel market, said Peter Ho, Bank of Hawaii president and the committee’s chairman.

The State Department will play host to the heads of state as well as other key government and business leaders from countries throughout the region descending on Hawaii to hold discussions on how to improve their economies collectively and to promote free trade among its member countries.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity for our community,” Ho said. “We will have the opportunity to host the 21 leaders of the 21 largest economies in the Asia-Pacific region.” Accompanying them will be those leaders’ senior ministers and other key members of their governments, their entourages, up to 1,000 business leaders in the region and up to 2,000 members of the global media, he said.

That means an influx of about 20,000 people to Oahu’s shores who will help generate tens of millions of dollars, he said. As a point of reference, the number of hotel rooms available in Waikiki is about 40,000.

“I think the real opportunity here lies in the fact that Hawaii, at least for one week, will be on display and showcased to the world,” Ho said. “We’ve got a great opportunity to showcase our special culture, whether it be our multiethnic makeup, our penchant for tolerance or the aloha spirit, we absolutely have an opportunity to augment our visitor market for not just sun, sand and surf, but also a place where real business can be conducted.”

Ho said the hope is for APEC 2011 Hawaii, the coordinating, contracting and fundraising arm of the Hawaii Host Committee, to raise $3 million to $4 million from the private sector that will go toward “putting our best foot forward.” The money would pay for things such as holding events for visiting dignitaries to beautification projects at Honolulu Airport and other places that will be exposed to the visitors.

“We’re going to try to get … the facilities here as up to spec as we can, but we’re up against some (time and funding) limitations, obviously,” Ho said.

He said Hawaii’s infrastructure is geared around a leisure travel market and that one of the goals of the host committee is to show Hawaii can be a good business travel destination as well. “The business market is a different market, so most importantly we need to recognize that we have opportunities to improve in our travel infrastructure.”

“This is an opportunity to position Hawaii as a global meeting place where the world can come and meet,” said Hawaii Tourism Authority President Mike McCartney, a member of the Host Committee. “This is our moment in time to take our place, and we believe … that we can host these meetings, we can bring diverse groups of people together and put on these meetings and do them successfully.”

A chief executive officer will be named next week for APEC 2011 Hawaii, Ho said. Also next week, the Host Committee will get a visit from a senior official from the government of Singapore, which hosted the 2009 APEC conference.

“I will tell you that we recognize that any event the size and magnitude of APEC certainly has the opportunity to create certain levels of disruption within everyday life,” Ho said. “We’re working very hard to learn from the lessons of others on ways to minimize this.”

The Host Committee expects the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to designate APEC as a “national special security event,” allowing for the state to obtain federal reimbursement of state and city expenditures.

Next year’s conference will be the first time since APEC’s first gathering, in 1993 in Washington state just outside Seattle, that the U.S. has hosted the annual conference.