Free Hawai‘i Hotel and Restaurant Show open for business

The inaugural Hawai‘i Hotel and Restaurant Show continues today offering the opportunity to connect thousands of members of the state’s restaurant, hotel and hospitality industries with the businesses that exist to serve their needs.

Founded by the Hawai‘i Lodging & Tourism Association, the Hawai‘i Restaurant Association, and Star Events, a division of Oahu Publications Inc., publisher of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the free event takes place today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hawai‘i Convention Center. Online registration is closed but walk-ins may register at the event’s check-in booths.

More than 3,000 attendees already have registered for the two-day event, which includes exposure to more than 160 vendors and a full day of educational programming on sustainability and other topics of interest to the restaurant, hotel and hospitality industries.

“Don’t miss this event. The reviews have been fantastic,” Mufi Hannemann, HLTA president and CEO, said Wednesday. “The quality of the event and of the attendees is high and business transactions are getting done. The real- time app, educational seminars and expo are real hits.”

Toby Tamaye, president of At Marketing, pronounced the event “a great addition to the tourism industry.”

“It’s allowed a lot of us to meet new industry partners and cultivate new relationships,” Tamaye said. “I hope the industry will embrace this event so that it can come back year after year.”

Valerie King, Sea Life Park’s general manager, was among the satisfied attendees visiting the event Wednesday.

“I wanted to see what’s new in the industry as well as network and see vendors,” King said. “There’s plenty of food and drinks to sample, too.”

There’s also free parking thanks to Hawaiian Electric Cos., which was an expo exhibitor.

“This is a great way to reach out to members of the community to educate them about resilience and emergency preparedness,” said Liane Lum, HECO senior community education consultant, who was staffing HECO’s expo booth.

Dennis Francis, Honolulu Star-Advertiser president and publisher, said the event also is a new addition to Oahu Publications Inc.’s line of annual expo and fair products.

“Our team is able to use valuable experience to provide professionals with the knowledge they need to compete locally, nationally and internationally,” Francis said in a statement. “The Hawai‘i Hotel & Restaurant Show is an all-inclusive resource that brings the best of Hawaii and the Pacific Rim together. We are also pleased to announce that a portion of the event proceeds will go to HLTA and HRA student scholarship funds.

ON THE MOVE

Manoa Valley Theatre has announced that Kip Wilborn will be its new producing director. His tenure officially will start on Aug. 1. Outgoing producing director Dwight Martin is retiring after nearly 40 years at MVT. Wilborn has numerous years’ experience as a leading tenor with symphonies and opera companies around the world as well as having served in the music and film theater, including recently as the music director for MVT’s “Allegiance.”