Hawaii Tourism Authority’s largest marketing contractor, Hawaii Tourism USA, plans to launch a bus tour to drive up domestic tourism, the top source for visitors to Hawaii. The tour will push travel to Hawaii island, which has yet to recover from all of the negative publicity over last year’s extended eruption of Kilauea Volcano.

In January, Hawaii island experienced a near 7 percent visitor drop to 148,126, and spending fell almost 6 percent to $253.4 million.

The idea was inspired by the 2009 Spirit of Aloha Bus Tour sponsored by Marriott Resorts Hawaii, where HTA’s new president and CEO, Chris Tatum, was previously a leader. That tour produced a surge of new bookings to Hawaii hotels to help offset the 2009 and 2010 downturn. The 45-foot-long tour bus, which was emblazoned with tropical images of Hawaii and filled with conch shell blowers, hula dancers and entertainers, made its way to the Midwest and East Coast.

Details on the coming tour, including costs, haven’t been finalized. Tatum said the latest bus tour would start on the West Coast. It will be led by Ross Birch, executive director of the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau, he said.

“All markets are important but Hawaii island is struggling. We need to jump-start it; just amplifying what we are doing doesn’t get you that business. We have to be creative and aggressive,” he said. “We’ll be hitting wholesalers, TV stations and radio stations getting the message out that Hawaii island is open for business and this is where you should come.”

Jay Talwar, chief marketing officer of Hawaii Tourism USA, said the agency is coordinating the bus public relations and sales efforts and “supplementing our asset base to allow us to re-brand the island.”