Hawaii has long been a destination for American and Japanese tourists, who make up between them the vast majority of tourism dollars spent in the state. But recently, the state has seen a big uptick in visitors from South Korea and Taiwan, especially on the Island of Hawai’i itself.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority has been doing research on what draws people to the islands, and then finding ways to increase that draw.
“We really try to dive down and find that one niche—what’s the one trigger that’s going to bring people here?” Ross Birch, executive director of the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau, told the Hawaii Tribune Herald.
Korean visitors, for example, tend to come for one of two reasons: honeymoons and golfing. While there are beautiful beaches and romantic spots throughout the state’s many islands, Maui is generally better known for golfing. The Big Island, as Hawai’i is known, has its share of good golf courses too, and they seem to be catching on with Korean tourists.
Taiwan has a love affair with running, and the Ironman World Championship, held in Hawaii, is an obvious draw. The HTA teamed up with Hawaii Tourism Taiwan to set up the Hawaii Crystal Run in Taiwan in 2015, which drew 5,000 runners competing for an all-expenses trip to the state.
The research has been driving marketing campaigns, and those campaigns are great lessons on how local governments all across the country can draw tourism.
In fact, other states are probably setting the standard with which Hawaii is trying to compete, as the islands only draw about 11 percent of the 16 million international visitors who come to the United States each year. Of course, with 50 states, getting more than 2 percent of international tourism is already putting them ahead of many other states by a nice margin. Since global international travel is increasing year after year, it’s not about beating other states as much as it is about growing the tourism that the state does receive. Maintaining or improving that 11 percent would be great for the state’s economy.