Aulani tops ranking of hotels for families

Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa in Ko Olina, is the best hotel for families in the United States, according to the annual Travel + Leisure World’s Best list.

The 19th annual World’s Best list is compiled based on a survey of T+L readers and includes every type of visitor experience, from hotels and spas to airlines, cruise lines and safaris.

Maui is the best Hawaiian Island, according to poll participants, while Hawaii’s top hotel or resort is Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on Hawaii island, and Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui, has the best hotel spa.

Of the top 100 hotels in the world, two Hawaii properties made the grade in addition to the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, at No. 22 on the list. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea is at No. 47, while Halekulani is 95th. Neither of the latter two were ranked on last year’s World’s Best list.

Of the world’s islands, Santorini, Greece, rose to first place from fourth last year. Maui is ranked second, up from third last year, and Kauai jumped to third from seventh, while Hawaii island came in fourth. (It was unranked last year.) Bali, Indonesia, weighed in at No. 5, while Oahu placed sixth this year from its unranked status last year.

Hawaiian Airlines is ranked as the third-best domestic airline by T+L readers, up from fourth last year. Virgin America and JetBlue Airways are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.

Larry Ellison is third-richest entrepreneur

Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle who owns most of Lanai as well as Island Air, ranked as the third-wealthiest entrepreneur, according to Wealth-X, which tracks high-net-worth individuals.

Oracle’s founder earned $48.2 billion compared with Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who topped the list with $80.2 billion. In second place was Warren Buffett, often referred to as the "Oracle of Omaha," with $64.2 billion.

Six of the top 10 billionaires acquired their wealth through technology or related businesses, including Gates; Ellison; sixth-ranked Larry Page of Google, at $31.3 billion; 30-year-old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, No. 7 at $30.9 billion; Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, No. 8 at $30.5 billion; and ninth-ranked Sergey Brin, 40-year-old Google co-founder, whose worth is measured at $30.1 billion.

State to issue occupation therapist licenses

Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a bill Wednesday enacting licensure laws for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants.

Hawaii is the last state in the nation to require licensing for this group of medical practitioners. Local practitioners will be licensed under the occupational therapy program within the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. Under the law, beginning with the Dec. 31 renewal period, each active occupational therapist registration will be converted to an occupational therapy license.

The occupational therapy assistant licensure provisions will go into effect Jan. 1, 2017, allowing time for rules to be disseminated and for occupational therapy assistants to meet new practice requirements.

Queen Lili’uokalani Trust acquires market

The Queen Lili’uokalani Trust has taken over ownership of a retail complex developed on land owned by the charitable organization in Kailua-Kona.

The trust, which benefits orphaned and destitute Hawaiian children, announced Thursday that it recently acquired Kona International Market, a 34,000-square-foot retail center with about 30 tenants, a food court and performance stage in Kona’s old industrial area near the airport.

Previously, the trust leased the 4.5-acre property to a Wyoming company that developed the retail complex in 2005 under a 50-year land lease running through 2054 with the trust, according to property records.

The Queen Lili’uokalani Trust, which manages several other properties in the industrial area, said it intends to reposition the center as part of a long-range master plan.

ON THE MOVE

SimplicityHR by ALTRES has hired Brandon Suyeoka as a marketing brand manager. He has 15 years of advertising and marketing professional experience, including as a senior account executive and social media director for Hendrix Miyasaki Shin Advertising and a marketing product manager for Eidos Interactive in San Francisco. 

                             

Damien Memorial School has announced that Paul A. Pollock has been promoted to chairman of the school’s board of directors. The following new members have also been added:Wendell Lum, an architect at NavFacHawaii; Elisa Yadao, senior vice president of consumer experience for Hawaii Medical Service Association; and Mary Benson, agent/owner of Honolulu Insurance Specialists, an Allstate Insurance agency. 

Mauna Kea Resort has announced the appointment of Wallene Blizzard as a golf membership sales manager. She served as a travel director for various destination management companies in Hawaii.