Hawaii Tourism Authority CEO John De Fries joins Spotlight Hawaii

spotlighting hawaii's leaders we want to bring in governor david good morning mr mayor lieutenant governor good morning thanks so much for joining us mayor derek kawakami thank you so much senator for being here spotlighting the issues where is the virus right now in our community how much is this overall going to cost the state how are you responding to the communities concerns talk about the level of citations that you guys are writing spotlight hawaii with yunji de nies and ryan kalei-suji on the digital platforms of the honolulu star advertiser this episode of spotlight hawaii is brought to you by long's drugs aloha and good morning thanks so much for tuning in here on this monday morning i'm ryan kalesuji joined by yanji denise and this is spotlight hawaii on the digital platforms of the honolulu star advertiser this morning yanchi we are going to be focusing in on the tourism industry yeah and a big headline in today's paper as well joining us right now live is john dufrese the ceo of the hawaii tourism authority thank you so much for being here i'm having a better hair day than that photo you use we gotta check we gotta change the graphic we will get on that for sure let's get to that headline though in the paper this morning lawmakers uh denying some funding that you had at your agency had asked for to make some pretty critical repairs to the convention center uh let's talk about that specifically and also more broadly how you felt the session went for your agency i'll be happy to thank you and um going into the legislature we had three uh core requests uh 60 million in operating funds uh a 28.5 million increased expenditure ceiling uh for your viewers that has to do with uh being able to spend money that is brought into the center as well as what is appropriated and then we also had a 64 million dollar capital improvement project request to deal with a age-old problem at the the center which is the rooftop repair um we came out of the session with uh 60 million in operating funds the expenditure ceiling was increased to 28.5 but we came out with only 15 million uh to deal with the rooftop now as a standalone investment that 15 million will probably produce a three to five year short-term solution a band-aid essentially in doing that however the the legislature made it clear to us that what it wants to see is a future vision of the center going forward over the next 20 25 years and to that end they also appropriated to d-bed a 500 000 uh appropriation that will um make an assessment conduct a survey and take a look at what's happening in the conventions industry from the market side of it to uh the surrounding real estate some of which remains undeveloped or underdeveloped and begin to look at it much more holistically and with a future eye on it the end result is that the legislature is clear it wants the state of hawaii to be alleviated of the annual uh cost that it takes to run the center and very much wants to see uh a private public partnership emerge out of this now none of us have the the solution to that today but the appropriation of d-bed will be a big help and so let's dive a little deeper into just the you know the what is happening there with the facility as a whole i mean it's showing its age not only with this uh issue with the rooftop and this leaks but there's other areas that need repair and maintenance overall moving forward as this potential private partnership evolves um how are you gonna you know solve some of these issues that could potentially interrupt um businesses or organizations from coming in and utilizing the convention center status quo the the the current condition is every time there's a major rain event uh at the center we begin to knock out the the use of some very valuable meeting rooms uh in january uh we had a total buyout of the center um a court corporation bought it out and everything was set up for the next day's arrival the rain event hit that night and uh the staff had to evacuate about three of the meeting rooms reset them up so until we get a fix we continue to have to deal with rain event at the rain event and and that's unfortunate but that's what we're faced with at the moment now the 15 million dollar fix um while not what we asked for will at least deal with the um the incoming rain but what it does is it will render the rooftop totally unusable during that period so at the moment we're looking at that 15 million and some other repair and maintenance dollars that we have on hand for some other projects and uh the team at the center is looking at other scenarios than just the 15 million uh we will conclude what direction to take within the next few weeks uh we're discussing it with our board i'll be circling back to discuss it with our tourism chairs to make sure that whatever course of action we take we're all on the same page and taking this incremental step into the future let's talk about the tourism season that is upon us of course that is the summer season what are you anticipating in terms of arrivals and making up the game you know for some of the losses that we've seen over the last few years also would love to hear about your trip to japan with the governor and when we can expect more of those visitors to come as well sure so let's take a snapshot of may my last report may 8-14 that that one week right statewide we ran a 76.7

occupancy and the average daily rate was north of 334 dollars that is um an incredible achievement in the month of may so what we're looking at and that's without japan as our primary international market uh being fully reopened we did enjoy some japanese arrivals during that week but going into the summer i think you're going to see both the occupancy and the average daily rate begin to to increase um the japan trip in my opinion could not have been better timed on that trip was myself as a part of the governor egate delegation first lady don ige was with us as well as speaker of the house scott psyche speaker psyche is the co-chair of the japan hawaii legislative friendship association and very important set of relationships um there with the legislative branch you would be hard-pressed um to find another governor in the nation who could secure a appointment with the prime minister uh fumio kishida and that request and that respect was given to governor evie and it was one of the highlights of the the visit as well as the u.s uh i'm sorry the japan minister of foreign uh affairs uh mr hayashi uh in each of these meetings as well as with the legislative branch reaffirming the importance of the hawaii japan relationship within the context context of japan u.s relations constantly reinforced every meeting you could hear people referring to the century-long relationship that japan has enjoyed historically and culturally that hawaiian japan has enjoyed together as really the foundation upon which increased commerce increased tourism uh can occur um anybody that goes to japan comes home and already you start missing the food that's there and uh you know the food is so compatible with what we eat uh back here i will tell you that uh in every case and the other gentleman that was on the on the delegation was director mike mccartney from d-bed so the the trip had three primary goals government relations strengthening that and beginning to explore how uh restrictions in the pandemic will start to become relaxed uh both internal to japan and then restrictions that will help foster greater confidence in traveling out of japan to hawaii so government relations very important as well as at the legislative level secondly there was a business development component that d-bed led and had to do with meeting with digital technology companies renewable energy companies uh you've got a couple of partners in japan who are developing real estate and eva that they met with and then of course we dedicated about two and a half days to meeting with our travel partners uh the airlines the wholesale operators those that do package tours uh to say there's a pent-up demand in japan uh is a slight understatement i mean there's there's a fervor there to come back to the islands um but you know we're not going to get there overnight um at the moment you're going to see a higher end traveler who's a lot more confident to make that expenditure right now but i think as we get into july august you're going to start seeing some increased number of air seats and um and a greater degree of confidence that we can travel to and from each other's countries and um and feel confident that um the right measures are in place so you know in speaking just generally you laid out a few months there where we could expect to see that but was there any discussion when those meetings with the prime minister or any of the other officials that would mark maybe an official start date or a time where this will be an opportunity for those japanese residents as well as residents in hawaii to once again visit japan sure you know there weren't there were not official dates but i think you're already beginning to see it um as soon as we got back from japan it was announced that the number of inbound visitors that cap that moved from 10 000 to 20 000 effective i believe june 1. and as you start to see the domestic restrictions become more relaxed um that is a precursor to the fact that international travel is right around the corner uh we were given some specific dates from the airlines but out of respect for them and and their rollout of the public announcement i'm going to hold off on that but in the in the weeks ahead you're going to hear um announcements by uh japan airlines and a a uh about what their summer and fourth quarter air capacities are going to be so um again out of respect for them i'm going to let them make that announcement they're pretty excited about it you know when the governor was on here ahead of his trip he said that one of the things he would be discussing with leadership there would be perhaps some kind of special provision or waiver for japanese nationals who want to come to hawaii so that the quarantine restrictions and other coveted measures were mitigation measures were not as cumbersome was there any discussion of that will that be necessary do you think you know that there was discussion about it and and frankly the discussions along that line had been initiated i can recall going back um more than a year when there was a talk about in fact maybe two years now where there was talk about um creating a japan hawaii bubble uh the term bubble was not used but the idea that hawaii has uh taken extreme precautions throughout to keep our communities safe that our covet counts and our hospitalizations are lower than um the hot spots in the continent of the united states and there was a recurring um request to consider detaching hawaii from uh the entire mainland when making those kinds of designations now there was no commitment being made but you know i appreciate the fact that on their end they were open to the discussion i certainly appreciate the fact that the speaker of the house psyche and governor ige have been very candid and direct about that for a moment there i began to feel like i was in the middle of sovereignty talks for hawaii but we won't go there but if it certainly felt sovereign moving on one of the things that uh we always like to do is bring in questions heidi's asking a question here uh if airlines will start or continue to partner with uh educational videos we know that that has been a big part coming out of cobit 19 is this whole concept of sustainable tourism and you know the malama aina and those efforts to really help educate people uh outside of hawaii about the uniqueness of our environment and how to be a responsible traveler can you speak to that especially as you talk about the return of these japanese tourists are any uh videos or any sort of campaign being done on that end to when when we welcome in those visitors that they understand these lessons yeah absolutely you know we have a series that relates to malama which you've all seen and then more recently we have a kuleana set of videos right i i will tell you and this does not come as any surprise to those of us that know the japan market there is a level of respect and mindfulness about that the traveler from japan uh that actually in my opinion is a standard with which all markets should strive for because and i and i do believe it's because the the culture of hawaii where whether it's the native hawaiian culture or the multi-ethnic kamayana culture that the values that we have the values that we live by are compatible to that and run parallel in many cases to that of japan right uh they very much respect their sacred sites their ancestors right family tradition all of those things so the messages of malama and kuliana translate extremely well in japan and uh we were privy to a number of campaigns that they're developing uh in which there is a total integration of that messaging and i'll say this um both japan airlines and um any uh spoke about that not only in the context of travel to hawaii but uh what impressed me um a lot in in and it was consistent japan has made a massive commitment to the united nations sustainable development goals and you go into business meetings it's not unusual to see them wearing on their lapel uh that particular insignia which affirms that that corporation is committed well you you know the sustainable development goals is like one mega macro malama global campaign and so the idea that hawaii is is repositioning and coming at this with a different mindset around hawaiian cultural values is being extremely well received a vigorous reception i got to say um in in the presentations that we saw in the campaigns that are now being implemented and that we can expect to see throughout the rest of the year i want to stick with viewer questions here uh and as rivals go up this is something that is top of mind for many is it possible to find out how they will address the water conservation for tourists that can rapidly deplete our island resources for residents that are conserving water uh ernie lau was on our program on friday and talked about the need for conservation efforts because of red hill and also because of the drought that we are currently experiencing statewide uh what are the conversations like with the travel industry when it comes to conservation efforts right now you know time timely uh question i appreciate that last friday um we convened hda convened a um industry update in which um ernest law and kathleen pahinui and brian uh board chairman um all three of them came together to address um the current status what we can anticipate going forward in the summer uh while there are no mandatory uh restrictions at the moment uh all of us reached out to the industry um to take the voluntary steps in water conservation that we can at hda we're trying to get that information um from our industry stakeholder uh partners uh we'll have more to report on that going into the summer board of water supply has asked for that information as well but uh clearly our local partners here understand the current situation we're in and that the industry has a substantial role to play in that effort another thing we want to bring up and just touch a little more on is this past legislative session and just the overall structure of the white tourism authority it seems like every session there is talks of allocation of funding restructuring how things are going to be managed moving forward we've seen a lot of evolution within uh your organization over the last few years how would you say overall things went this legislative session uh funding wise and and how do you see it moving forward uh with this continuing uh evolution of the department and the legislature's involvement and how the organization is funded yeah i would i would say this that um and and and i say this in in a way of expressing the fact that you know this is how democracy works right is that you've got two chambers uh who in many instances do not agree the debate is actually healthy uh we ended up with that session closing with the 60 million we asked for in operating funds we actually came out with one additional position because our our budget called for 25 job positions we now have 26 that have been approved and um and there were discussions about restructuring the department those bills did not survive but i take the heart the the message that the senate and the house are sending in in making the point that marketing tourism and branding hawaii as a destination needs to be addressed in better balance with the concerns being expressed by the community and managing uh visitors once prior to their arrival educating them and once they're on the ground so you know i'm grateful for the fact that we got the operating funds i'm grateful that the the job positions are there that the expenditure ceiling got approved because that enables us to be more fluid in the way we uh operate this the convention center and and frankly we didn't get the 64 million but we got a set of tools that we can use and we'll use over the next two to three years to meet the the request of um the legislature you know the one thing we all want to avoid is today you and i have a 50 000 seat stadium that is no longer functional okay and uh and we're not gonna let that happen at the corner of atkinson and kapiolani um and so whatever tools we were given i'm grateful and and going forward keep in mind too this is the first year in hda's history that this budgeting process keep in mind that my office reports to a 12-member board that's confirmed by the senate we're attached agency to d-bed and the governor is you know to whom the authorities of hawaii report on top of that now we have the whole house of representatives and state senate so there are no shortage of uh bosses okay and um and it won't surprise any of you to know there's not a consensus agreement about what the future looks like so it's incumbent on myself and my leadership team to pick up as many data points to pick up as many uh influences that we can find and and navigate a course that number one is best for the people of hawaii in our communities and secondly that we can meet and exceed the expectation of all of the visitor markets globally and um and we have a team that's up to doing that another topical question here uh speaks to something that i'm interested in as well ask him his feelings about crime how crime is affecting tourism has he asked hpd and the d.a to bring in weed and seed it makes waikiki a protected reagan crime free area um we know that there are ongoing conversations between the prosecutor's office and hlta we've talked to mufi hanuman about this very issue but from your perspective has the crime that we've seen in waikiki in recent months had any impact on tourism and what are your concerns about that going forward you know it's it's always going to have an impact right everybody that's got a mold mobile device is a media company okay so every time something like this happens um pictures go out the world the word goes out and um anecdotally i will say i don't have qualitative data quantitative data but it can only hurt right so every story where there is a setback like that or a crime committed um is going to injure a the brand that we have cultivated in hawaii over a century frankly when the aloha spirit became synonymous with that so anything that operates counter to that spirit of aloha is in fact impacting and i credit the hawaii lodging and tourism association president mufi hanuman for becoming extremely proactive on it convening all the agencies that are connected with crime and he convened a meeting i want to say like 10 days ago i was not able to attend but our chief administrative officer keith regan did it's it's a non-stop uh process and uh at hd we remain committed to taking whatever steps we can to mitigate and eliminate that kind of threat as we wrap up here i do want to ask you a question more on a personal level you've been in this position in this room now for about two years uh what has been the most challenging part of this job for you that you've experienced uh during your tenure here in leading this organization uh you know the most challenging posit aspect of this is oddly enough it has to do with you know being prepared to think out of the box and to think um bigger about hawaii's role on a global stage as opposed to just the 50th state of the us right and to that end i i i look at the initiatives that are going on on every island in all the communities relative to caring for the environment caring for children caring for the health and safety of neighborhoods when i look at all of those initiatives cumulatively uh what you see is these individual acts of malama when we use malama when i use malama in in the context of hta it's not as a campaign but it is a way of life come on a way of life and it is a call to action okay and and what makes me proud and and and inspires me is when i see this type of activity going on throughout the state uh in our communities and so being able to elevate that characteristic as part of repositioning hawaii on the global stage is something i'm committed to it stays committed to and um i just encourage more people to get comfortable with that fact that hawaii has much to teach the world at the same time we are taking in information from different parts of the world that we believe can help us the japan trip is a classic example of that so short answer to your question is um that we we don't fear our own greatness because uh the world needs hawaii to emerge yes indeed i think that's a wonderful place to leave our conversation this morning john dufrese ceo of the hawaii tourism authority thank you so much for spending your morning with us and get rid of that bad hair photo we're on it we will talk to the graphics department this morning all right appreciate you guys so much thank you always wonderful to hear from him and you really heard a pretty conciliary conciliatory tone there talking about uh you know his experience with the legislature this session uh the last session was fairly contentious given uh the funding restrictions that were put in place and a lot of the cuts that he then subsequently had to make he expressed satisfaction that the budget was there and the jobs are there despite the fact that you saw that article by alison shafers in the paper this morning if you haven't read it please go ahead and do so talking about you know that the agency had asked for 64 million dollars they're going to get 15 and what he described as some other tools to try to figure out other mechanisms to support that that project or that facility going forward what he doesn't want to see he said is to that turn into you know what aloha stadium now is to the state which is a facility that we can't use but still cost us a lot of money yeah understanding and recognizing the importance that the convention center plays through the overall industry as a whole and making sure that the state is aware of some of the challenges that face uh the the aging infrastructure of the facility and moving forward noting that this is something that will need to be addressed that a private and public partnership is something that they could be pursuing in the future although that does not have a roadmap or anything specifically lined up for a evolution in the way in which this facility is financed recognizing that that may be the best path forward but noting that there are several tools right now to help them sort of evolve what that experience of the convention center looks like but also noting that anytime that there is a major rainstorm that happens that the convention center becomes less and less operable in certain areas because of those damaging leaks so we'll just have to continue to pay attention to see how that evolves we also heard about his japan trip saying that he thought he couldn't have gone any better and also noting the significance about being able to meet with the prime minister and the governor ige having that relationship to be able to foster that discussion overall and that he uh you know to use his word said that the uh the fervor that the japanese have for coming to hawaii would be an understatement that there is a definite demand and they are excited about returning to the islands yeah and it does sound like we will be hearing in the coming weeks about uh perhaps new routes or expansion of routes uh maybe not new routes but at least standing up existing routes uh between the islands and japan he didn't want to get ahead of our travel of the industry partners but saying that we should expect some announcements from those airlines about increasing capacity we know that there's a lot of pent up command on this side too uh to get on those airlines going back to japan but really a lot of folks in the travel industry here in hawaii miss that particular set of international visitors and he also talked about how they are working with those partners to increase that awareness uh in the malama hawaii campaign and trying to make sure that the tourists who do come understand the host culture and how to respect it yeah and also we just heard from him on how hg is also staying abreast and connected with some of the other issues happening from the water shortages of course that uh due to the result of what's happening at red hill noting that that is something conservation of water is going to be important uh in that communication with visitors as well as crime and the impact that we're seeing here on the island of wang and throughout the state really with more and more crime that is being reported that it could be something that will impact the uh hta's ability to market hawaii as a safe destination uh and one that they will continue again to stay connected with with other partnering agencies so uh always great to hear from him on uh wednesday we will be switching gears and heading over to the island of maui that's right we're going to be talking to maui mayor mike victorino getting an update on what's happening in his county uh we see these coven numbers continue to go up we know that maui had their own set of restrictions at one point is that something that the mayor could be considering he obviously you know his island his county rather is a hot tourist destination how are they preparing for the summer months we know that maui often gets crushed just by the impact of all those visitors coming at the same time so what is this what is the county doing to make sure that that goes smoothly this summer lots to talk about with mayor mike victorino so we look forward to that conversation right here wednesday at 10 30. we'll see you then aloha this episode of spotlight hawaii is brought to you by long's drugs you

2022-05-26 17:11

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