The Hawai‘i Convention Center says its recent
$1.1 million sports-flooring investment is a tourism slam dunk.
The center will host its first basketball tournament today in its 204,000-square-foot exhibition hall on
18 courts made of portable plastic-tile flooring. The tile also can be configured into 28 volleyball or badminton courts or 11 indoor soccer courts. The courts also can be used for wrestling.
The Jam on It Pacific Rim Basketball Championships 2017, which runs through Sunday, will bring more than 130 boys and girls basketball teams to face off at the center. As many as 50 of the teams are coming from the neighbor islands, the mainland and other countries, said Teri Orton, Hawai‘i Convention Center
general manager.
“This is good for tourism, and it brings great benefit to our locals who normally have to fly to the U.S. mainland to compete in these types of events,” Orton said.
More than 1,500 athletes, coaches and supporters
are expected to attend the competition.
The basketball tournament, combined with a women’s volleyball tournament that was held in February, is expected to generate $1.3 million in tax revenue for the state, Orton said.
Orton said both basketball and volleyball organizers have pledged to play more games in Hawaii. The center also is working on closing deals to bring seven more sports tournaments that would run during the next two years, she said.
“We’ve had a very good response,” Orton said. “Sporting events are a good way to pick up business in the year for the year. The basketball tournament
came with only five months to market the event.”
Keith Vieira, principal at KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting LLC, said the center’s decision to expand into the amateur sporting arena aligns with Hawaii’s health-conscious brand. It also creates another avenue to reach the coveted millennial traveler.
“Hawaii’s core market is the 45- to 75-year-old visitor,” Vieira said. “Some of these visitors associate Hawaii as the place where their parents came for rest and relaxation during WWII. Others have memories tied to ‘Hawaii Five-0’ or family trips. The millennials don’t have the same sense of loyalty as these travelers and are much more aware of what the world has to offer. To capture their attention, we need to offer more chances to be experiential. These sporting events will appeal to them.”
