Tourism authority pushing digital effort to market isles

Online games, virtual reality immersion and paid ads featuring a same-sex couple were among the firsts that the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s team of mostly new contractors rolled out Wednesday during the agency’s spring marketing update.

Agency officials and contractors said they plan to use more digital and personalized advertising to improve on the 8.6 million visitor arrivals that the isles welcomed last year. The push reflects the agency’s need to spend wisely. It also follows a marketing movement that increasingly seeks to entertain, educate and immerse consumers.

“We refuse to be complacent and settle for the status quo despite four years of record-setting visitor arrivals and expenditures,” said HTA President and CEO George Szigeti. “We are following our strategic plan and maximizing our resources to market tourism — Hawaii’s largest and most important industry.”

Szigeti said Hawaii tourism is continually being challenged by destinations worldwide, many of which have more money to spend on tourism marketing.

“What these other destinations don’t have is the unmatched, timeless appeal of the Native Hawaiian culture … the harmony of our multiethnic population … and the way we welcome everyone to Hawaii with open arms,” he said.

Inclusivity was prominent in the surprise wedding campaign by the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau. The campaign featured same-sex military couple Christian Alarid and Shayne Barnes, who got engaged and married at the Kahala Hotel and Resort over a 10-hour period. The tourism bureau coordinated and funded the wedding, which was posted on YouTube, went viral and was picked up by national media.

Jay Talwar, HVCB senior executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said the surprise wedding was the first time the bureau has featured a same-sex couple in a paid campaign. It drew 30 million impressions, more than 9 million social engagements and more than 10 million video views.

“It went beyond same-sex media coverage. It really showed the beauty and spirit of Hawaii,” he said.

Scott Foster, senior political advocate for LGBT Hawaii, said Hawaii historically has overlooked the potential of the LGBT tourism market.

“It was the first time that they’ve done anything. Prior to that you couldn’t get them to put one graphic of two men or two women on their website,” said Foster, who has been advocating for more resources for the LGBT tourism market for years. “This took them beyond their comfort zone, but they haven’t done anything since. They still need to do more. “

While it remains to be seen if Hawaii tourism will invest more in LGBT marketing, there’s no denying the digital push. HTA is overhauling its website and coming up with a Go Hawaii app, which concentrates on destination information and visitor safety. The agency also is pursuing a virtual reality campaign, which will be revealed in September at its annual tourism conference.

Digital and social media are huge, said Andrew Koh, who heads Taiwan marketing efforts.

“Even my Dad at 74 years old is using Facebook all the time,” Koh said.

Every HTA contractor is using some aspect of social media, even Europeans, who are more dependent on print than other markets. Hawaii Tourism Europe has created an online game, the Hawaii Challenge, that helps participants learn about the isles while competing for a free trip. China also is developing an online game with CTRIP, a travel agent partner.

Leslie Dance, who was appointed HTA’s vice president of marketing and product development earlier this year, said HTA will reveal a virtual reality campaign at the September conference. Dance envisions an experience that allows consumers to feel like they are parasailing over the Hawaiian Islands.

Since the agency doesn’t have the budget to run big-dollar advertising campaign, Dance said it emphasized digital in its request for proposals to vendors. Using emotion to forge personal connections with consumers also is a high priority, she said.

“Emotion dictates where people travel to and why they want to come back,” she said.