Hawaii hoteliers had the home-court advantage this week as they competed with other destinations for millions of dollars’ worth of high-stakes deals at a gathering of meeting planners in Honolulu.
The three-day event, which concluded Tuesday at The Modern Honolulu, was the result of a marketing partnership between the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and Smart Meetings Magazine, which brought 34 North American corporate meeting and incentive planners to Hawaii to develop new business opportunities.
The event comes at a time when the once recession-trodden industry is booking events again.
Hawaii sellers were competing with sellers from North American and international destinations.
"It’s like speed dating for meeting planners," said Marin Bright, CEO and publisher of Smart Meetings Magazine, as she gestured to a roomful of tables for two where sellers could woo planners for 10 minutes.
Hawaii travel sellers, who occupied about half of the tables at the event, were able to save money by meeting with planners in the state and had the advantage of being able to show attendees what they were pitching, said Mike Murray, HVCB vice president of sales and marketing for corporate meetings and incentives.
On the first day of appointments, the HVCB secured one booking and several leads, Murray said.
"Another opportunity with these types of events include establishing new relationships and being able to brand the business side of Hawaii," he said.
Murray and other tourism leaders expect the event to build upon the success of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Week in November and continue last year’s momentum, which brought an increase of 11.2 percent in the number of visitors who came to Hawaii for meetings, conventions or incentive trips.
"The trade show will provide planners from across the nation an opportunity to experience our world-class facilities firsthand and see what makes Hawaii an ideal place to conduct business," said Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Most of the planners extended their stays to conduct more site inspections on Oahu and the neighbor islands, Murray said.
The Modern Honolulu hopes to realize four bookings from hosting the event, said Lisa DeCambra, director of sales and marketing at The Modern.
"This was a terrific opportunity," DeCambra said. "Many of the planners weren’t aware of the hotel prior to coming here, and many of them hadn’t been to Oahu in years. They said that they didn’t realize that this end of Waikiki had become so vibrant. That’s great for us and for Hilton and for the Hawaii Prince."
Jeff Berger, president of Illinois-based Conference Planning Resources Ltd., said the event gave him new insight into Hawaii.
"It helped me to understand that Hawaii is a good central meeting point between Asia and North America," Berger said. "The first call that I make when I get back to Chicago will be to my client Crowe Horwath International to tell them about the opportunities here."
The international accounting firm, which does business in places like Hong Kong, India and Argentina, is looking for a venue to host 250 to 300 people in 2014, Berger said.
The trade show also provided Kim Castagneri, a meeting manager for Phoenix-based Maxvantage, her first opportunity to scout in Hawaii since two of her incentive trips were canceled during the downturn.
"During the recession we definitely saw a change in the industry," Castagneri said. "We lost a lot of team members when it hit, but we are actually refilling positions this year, which means that business is back."
She said that Hawaii compares favorably with other destinations that her clients might consider for 2013.
"Hawaii is strong. The climate is great. It’s easy to get here and your rates are pretty competitive," she said.
Overall feedback about Hawaii from planners during the event has been outstanding, Bright said.
"We think their experience in the islands will have a very meaningful impact for Hawaii as a meetings destination," she said.
"A lot of business is being booked here now," Bright said.
