Brand Marketing

Brand Marketing

Mālama Hawai‘i

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, in partnership with a statewide alliance of Hawai‘i-based hotels and volunteer organizations, are coming together with an initiative that encourages more responsible tourism by giving visitors an opportunity for an extended stay if they participate in a voluntourism activity during their stay on the islands. The Mālama Hawai‘i program not only will help us protect and preserve Hawai‘i for the future, but will give visitors a more meaningful and enriching travel experience, inspiring them to participate in more purposeful activities during their trip and future stays in Hawai‘i.

Brand Marketing Strategic Goal

HTA’s brand marketing goal is to strengthen tourism’s contributions by taking the lead in protecting and enhancing Hawai‘i’s globally competitive brand in a way that is coordinated, authentic, and market-appropriate; is focused on Hawai‘i’s unique culture and natural environment; and supports Hawai‘i’s economy by effectively attracting mindful high-value travelers.

HTA’s Global Marketing Team

HTA contracts marketing organizations worldwide – collectively known as its Global Marketing Team (GMT) – to inspire mindful travel and support regenerative tourism for the Hawaiian Islands. The GMT maintains a deep understanding of its respective markets, and also serves as the Hawai‘i resource for timely distribution of information and communication.

The GMT covers Hawai‘i’s main source markets for visitors – the U.S., Japan, Canada, Oceania, Korea, China and Europe. 

The GMT is charged with developing and executing annual Brand Marketing Plans (BMP) for their respective markets. These plans are reviewed and refined on a regular basis.

Key objectives:

• Brand marketing campaigns and programs shall be guided and informed by the Hawaiian values of aloha, Mālama, Ho'okipa and kuleana.
• Drive destination brand awareness. Build the brand of the Hawaiian Islands as well as the specific islands of Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Maui, and Hawai‘i Island.
• Take advantage of market insights and intelligence on trends, distribution dynamics, consumer insights, and competitive analysis. Target both current and next generation of mindful travelers. Encourage continued repeat travelers to come to Hawaiʻi.
• Focus brand marketing to target mindful travelers with emphasis on lifetime trip expenditures and increasing per person per day expenditures in alignment with the HTA’s KPIs.
• Collaborate with the visitor industry to leverage resources and optimize results.
• Maintain the cultural integrity of the Hawaiian language, customs and practices, cultural and historic sites, and imagery in all brand marketing initiatives.
• Increase awareness, familiarization, and understanding of the diversity of Hawai‘i’s people, place, and culture. This includes, but is not limited to, supporting Hawai‘i-based projects, programs, and initiatives in market at the HTA’s direction.
• Implement a responsible tourism branding communications program to educate visitors pre-arrival with specific information about safe and respectful/mindful travel. This program should be coordinated with the HTA’s in-destination program to provide a seamless message throughout the entire visitor journey.
• Develop airline relationships with the goal of monitoring and optimizing load factors and to support routes as directed.
• Focus marketing and enhance tour product development to build a desire to visit during shoulder periods and encourage multi-island itineraries.
• Maintain a balance between travel trade and consumer promotions, backed by research regarding consumer destination travel shopping and buying trends.
• Assist the HTA’s Global MCI Contractor “Meet Hawai‘i” in securing MCI group business with special focus on the state-owned Hawai‘i Convention Center (HCC) and citywide convention growth.
• Emphasis should be to drive visitor spending into Hawai‘i based businesses as a means to support a healthy economy, including supporting local businesses and promoting Hawai‘i made products, Hawai‘i festivals and events, agritourism programs, and voluntourism activities in partnership with the HTA, DBEDT, the private sector, etc.
• Assist the HTA and other designated entities in crisis management and communication related to the visitors and/or visitor industry.
• Collaborate and assist where appropriate, with approval by the HTA, in supporting DMAP and regenerative tourism initiatives. Work with the community, the visitor industry, and other government agencies on visitor related issues.
• Explore and support various DBEDT initiatives as directed and approved by the HTA.
• Ensure that initiatives are metrics-driven.