Pacific Aviation Museum adds to Hawaii’s allure

TripAdvisor’s ranking of the Pacific Aviation Museum at Ford Island as one of the nation’s 10 best aviation attractions is both high tribute to the keepers of the 4-year-old center and more encouraging news for Hawaii’s tourism industry.

With the state projecting rising visitor arrivals, the emergence of the museum — along with upgrades to the USS Arizona Memorial visitor center — promises an enhanced experience, with a vivid and fascinating look into the past in a place steeped in history.

Economic bright spots give cause for hope

That old saying "Lucky you live Hawaii" has new relevance.

With very few bright spots coming out of mainland economic news, reports of the Aloha State’s quickened recovery can only leave islanders with sunnier dispositions.

It may be that the Lingle administration’s work promoting Hawaii to Asian tourism markets is paying off.

But the work’s not finished.

Tourist traffic from China will improve only if the travel visa process becomes less complicated, and getting that done will be a heavy lift.

Meanwhile, we’d better hope for happy days for our suffering mainland brethren. The other 49 states still bring Hawaii 70 percent of its visitors.