Whitney Smith, an events manager from Houston, might notice Hawaii’s famous sun, sand and surf on her first trip to the isles.
However, Smith’s observations on Hawaii’s sustainability, the ability of the destination to help visitors reduce their social and economic impacts, probably will count more when she decides whether she should recommend the state to members of Rice University’s Baker Institute, who are looking for a place to host a 20th-anniversary celebration.
"Event planning is very paper-, soda can- and water bottle-heavy. It’s a challenge to reduce the impact, but it’s something that we are all focused on and that Hawaii does very well," said Smith, who will visit Kauai after she is done scouting locations on Hawaii island.
Smith is just one of 30 meeting and events planners, who collectively book group programs worth tens of millions of dollars annually, who were in the isles for a first-time educational conference sponsored by the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and Meeting Professionals International, the nation’s largest trade group of the meetings industry. In addition to the conference, held June 9-12 on Hawaii island, most of the planners are extending their visits to conduct site inspections on Kauai, Oahu and Maui.
The conference, which was the first MPI event in Hawaii in a decade, focused on sustainability in the isles, continuing momentum from the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, where Hawaii spotlighted advancements in clean energy as well as ocean, earth and sky sciences, and health and life sciences, said Michael Murray, HVCB’s vice president of sales and marketing.
"Hawaii is a recognized leader in being sustainable and preserving our natural resources, and this conference will continue to highlight the importance of that message and how it can be integrated into the overall meeting experience," Murray said.
During the conference, attendees were given the opportunity to listen to presentations by a Native Hawaiian cultural adviser and to plant koa tress in Kukaiau Forest on the slopes of Mauna Kea as part of a corporate social responsibility project, he said.
Those aspects of the conference made a good impression on a crowd of planners who are becoming increasing focused on sustainability, said Bruce MacMillan, CEO of the 21,000-plus member MPI, which represents 86 countries in 71 clubs and chapters, including Hawaii’s Aloha Chapter.
As many as 93 percent of the global CEOs interviewed in a recent Accenture study said sustainability was an important part of their selection criteria, MacMillan said.
"In addition, about 70 percent of our MPI members say that they are increasingly making sustainability a destination meeting and selection criteria," he said. "That’s up from about 40 percent."
Choosing sustainable destinations helps companies leave a positive footprint, MacMillan said.
"Companies like Oracle or financial service companies want to be seen as doing something positive in the community. It helps them build good customer equity," he said.
Hawaii is well positioned to capitalize on these goals, MacMillan said.
"Sustainability is hard-wired into your culture," he said. "This is not something that had to be manufactured. It was born here."
Hawaii’s connection with the land, the water and its spirituality are one of the main reasons it holds appeal as a meeting or event location for Veterinary Education Network, said Dana Rhoden, the organization’s Dallas-based meeting planner.
"Hawaii is a destination that we always want to have in our portfolio," said Rhoden, who has made more than 20 trips to the isles and is scouting a location for a 2013 continuing education program. "Our business philosophy is very much the whole human-animal-land connection, and Hawaii represents that in a very relevant way."
