“Celebrate a Legacy in Tourism,” the largest fundraiser for the University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management at the Shidler College of Business, is on track to set a fundraising record this year, but officials say more money is needed to help Hawaii’s visitor industry firm up its hiring pipeline amid continued labor shortages and a graying workforce.

The April 13 gala at the Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach also comes as enrollment at the TIM school is down and demand is up for local tourism managers who understand the need for regenerative tourism and can authentically contribute to perpetuating Hawaii’s culture.

Keith Vieira, principal of KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting, this year’s Legacy in Tourism Award honoree, is among those leading the drive to increase donations. Other honorees include Clinton Inouye, a retired freelance photographer, who will receive the TIM Alumni Hall of Honor Award, and Alaska Airlines, which was selected for the Distinguished Service Award.

Bianca Mordasini, senior director of alumni and external relations for the Shidler College of Business, said 2022’s event raised $260,000, and this year’s total, with a month and a half to go, just passed a record $300,000.

Vieira said his goal for the fundraiser is $400,000, and he’s asking the visitor industry and the community to help.

The first Native Hawaiian to lead a major hotel chain in Hawaii, Vieira has long been a supporter of the state’s visitor industry as well as the importance of creating career opportunities for local students. He is an executive-in-residence at the Shidler College of Business and serves on its advisory council, and is chair the UH School of Travel Industry Management Advisory Council. He also continues to support the Keith Vieira Ho‘owaiwai a Ho‘ona‘auao Endowed Scholarship.

Vieira said he is proof of the advantages of a UH education and a career in Hawaii’s visitor industry. Born and raised in Hilo, Vieira said his parents and grandparents came off the plantation, and his family struggled. He said new opportunities opened for him after he earned his degree in personnel and industrial relations in 1979 at what was then the UH College of Business Administration.

While in college, Vieira worked as a tour escort, a bus driver and a bouncer at the Hyatt and Oceania showrooms. He said he applied for 11 positions at Sheraton and had 17 unsuccessful interviews before mentorships finally led to a management opportunity in the visitor industry.

Vieira’s hotel career took off in 1981 when he was hired as sales manager for Tihati’s Polynesian Show at the Sheraton Moana Surf­rider. By 1999, Vieira had worked his way up to Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide’s top job in Hawaii as senior vice president director of operations for the Hawaii and French Polynesia division.

He led Starwood’s Hawaii South Pacific area, part of a corporate portfolio of over 1,180 properties in 100 countries. He also grew the region with the addition of 18 properties in Hawaii, Samoa and French Polynesia.

Vieira started KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting in 2014 after retiring from Starwood. Some of his clients include Anshutz, Avenue Capital, Oaktree Capital, Alexander & Baldwin and Kamehameha Schools.

“There were so many hotel of the year awards — it’s all irrelevant. All that matters is who have you helped. Your legacy is who have you helped,” Vieira said. “I learned very quickly in my career that people need support.”

He views the creation of Starwood Hawaii’s Na Wahine Diversity Council as his greatest corporate achievement. The council had a mission to expand female leadership and promote leadership roles for diverse ethnicities within Hawaii’s hotel industry. Notable participants include Royal Hawaiian Hotel Manager Nicole Okuna and General Managers Kelly Hoen, Angela Nolan, Teri Orton and Cheryl Williams.

“When I first came in, there were no women GMs; it was mostly men, most of them had come from Europe, a lot of them had come from food and beverage in Europe,” he said. “There was nothing wrong with that, that’s what happened at the time, but that’s not what we needed in Hawaii.”

Today the problem in Hawaii’s visitor industry is less about a lack of opportunities for locals and more about finding enough candidates to fill open jobs. It’s the same story in many places nationwide, but the struggle is more intense in Hawaii, where job applicants from other states or islands are a plane ride away.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association said in its 2023 State of the Industry report that “staffing is expected to remain a significant challenge for U.S. hotels in 2023, with hotels projected to employ 2.09 million people in 2023, down from 2.35 million in 2019.”

Indeed, Hawaii hotels this week were advertising more than 1,600 jobs, including 300 in hotel management on the AHLA Foundation’s career campaign website, thehotelindustry.com.

Adding to the hiring challenge for Hawaii’s hospitality and tourism industries is declining enrollment at the TIM school.

“(Enrollment is) down a bit because of COVID,” said Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business. “All hospitality and tourism schools have suffered. As I’ve talked to other deans about this, our enrollment has not declined as much as some of the others’.”

In the fall 2021 semester, TIM school enrollment was at 290 students, with 12 more taking leaves of absence. By spring 2023, enrollment had declined to 233 students, with nine more taking leaves of absence.

Vieira said some students experienced financial challenges as a result of the pandemic.

“That is one of the reasons we have tried to step up the number of scholarships in order to ensure local kids can take full advantage of what the university has to offer,” he said.

Roley said the TIM school will graduate about 80 students this year and is addressing its enrollment challenge by stepping up outreach to high school students and counselors.

“To have a great school, you need great students. To have great students, you need scholarships,” he said.

Roley said that historically the TIM fundraiser has raised over $200,000 annually, which funds scholarships for 50 to 100 students.

Daniel Chun, Alaska Airlines’ sales, community and public relations director for Hawaii, said the company is a proud supporter of the TIM school, as more Hawaii graduates will make it easier to fill the 3,500 jobs the airline hopes to fill companywide this year.

“As we continue to grow and bring dozens of new airplanes into our fleet, we need thousands of people to join the Alaska family,” said Chun, who was a TIM Alumni Hall of Honor awardee in 2016. “From maintenance technicians to contact center agents, flight attendants to pilots, customer service agents to software engineers, we have jobs available for anyone who wants to be part of our team.”

Chun said there is an industrywide shortage of both pilots and technicians due to retirements and not enough people in the pipeline to fill the demand.

“Having scholarships available is critical to lifting financial barriers, especially for aspiring pilots, that historically have prevented underrepresented groups from accessing the flight deck,” he said.

‘Celebrate a Legacy in Tourism’

A fundraiser for student scholarships at the University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management at the Shidler College of Business

>> When: April 13, 5:30 p.m.

>> Where: Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach

>> Cost: $500 per person, $4,000 to $25,000 for sponsor tables; register by March 30 and buy tickets at eventbrite.com

>> Info: Amanda Reese at arrease@hawaii.edu or 808-956-6926