Hawaii looks to Australia to make up the numbers
Hawaii will spend more of its marketing dollars in Australia, Korea and North America while it waits for the Japanese market to recover.
The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau expects Japan business to fall by around 30 percent as a result of the recent earthquake and tsunami.
Japan is Hawaii’s second biggest source market with 1.2 million visitors in 2010.
“The Oceania market is very strong for Hawaii, especially out of Sydney and Melbourne,†said Michael Murray, the bureau’s vice president of sales and marketing for meetings and incentives.
The current strong Aussie dollar was helping to drive business to Hawaii, he said.
Murray, speaking at IT&CM China in Shanghai, said Hawaii’s credentials as a business events hub included its leading role in areas such as healthcare, IT and ocean and earth sciences.
It was also the only state in the US where it was possible to conduct same-day business with major international cities, including New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney.
Ian Jarrett
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