Marielle Magdirila, a Waipahu High School senior, visited the Marriott Vacations Worldwide booth at the speed-dating-styled job-exposure fair Monday during LEI, a signature workforce development event for the nonprofit ClimbHI, which specializes in connecting Hawaii high school students with career opportunities in the hospitality industry.

Magdirila plans to attend college in the fall in Texas or Utah, but spoke with Jason Furuta, a talent acquisition manager for Marriott Vacations Worldwide, about summer job opportunities. LEI stands for Leadership, Exploration, Inspiration, and that’s exactly what Magdirila found at the event.

“I really like the hospita­lity industry because I feel like I can learn how to give back to my community. My career aspiration is have a music studio based in Hawaii. I think it goes well with tourism,” Magdirila said.

Magdirila was just one of more than 550 college and high school students at the Oahu LEI program, which was held in partnership with the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and Hawai‘i Department of Education. It wrapped up a series of statewide LEI events on Maui, Hawaii island and Kauai held earlier this month.

Furuta, who went to all the LEI events across the islands this year, said he has supported the program since its start 12 years ago, and it remains as relevant as ever.

“Events like these plant the seed. There are many freshmen and sophomore students that we are able to expose to the industry. Down the road, hopefully, they’ll pick hospitality,” he said.

The event also drew Gov. Josh Green, who told students that there are opportunities waiting for them in Hawaii’s $20 billion visitor industry, and reiterated the crucial role that local talent plays in making Hawaii a great place to live and work.

Green told the students, “Without the flavor of Hawaii, it will not be anything special, and that’s why our focus is to somehow find a way to encourage you to find a career here to make money here to drive our economy here to find a home here so that you can live and raise your kids here and the next generation. That is our goal to make sure we can build housing that we can build jobs so that you can make a decision to stay here.”

The program comes as the hospitality industry nationally and in some Hawaii hotels, especially on the neighbor islands, struggles to attract and keep a workforce. Some 67% of hotels nationwide that were polled for the American Hotel &Lodging Association’s Front Desk Feedback survey at the beginning of the year were still reporting staffing shortages.

Mufi Hannemann, chairperson of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority board and president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Lodging &Tourism Association, said, “With the ongoing challenges that we are facing in filling jobs throughout the hospitality industry, now more than ever we have to engage our young people and educate them on the opportunities that await them in pursuing a career in a tourism-related field. That’s why ClimbHI LEI programs play a key role in HTA’s plan to prioritize workforce development.”

ClimbHI Founder and President Julie Morikawa said starting workforce development young is important to ensure students understand the breadth of jobs in Hawaii’s visitor industry, which range from construction jobs to jobs in transportation, finance, business, management, marketing, public relations, law, engineering, resiliency, Hawaiian language culture and more.

Morikawa said LEI is just one way that ClimbHI is bringing students and businesses together. There’s also a free online portal, climbhi.org/portals, that since 2021 has connected hundreds of businesses and schools statewide reaching nearly 200,000 students.

Thelma Kehaulani Kam, a 53-year veteran of the hospitality industry and director of cultural services for Kyo-ya Hotels &Resorts and Marriott International, said early outreach leads to students graduating with more of the skills needed for success, including the capacity to exude the aloha spirit.

“It’s just so important for us to live the aloha spirit and that is what we do here within our Kyo-ya Hotels &Resorts — that’s our purpose,” Kam said.

Lucas Ruuemau, a 15-year-old sophomore at Pearl City High School, isn’t ready given his age to enter Hawaii’s visitor industry workforce. However, Ruuemau was ready to listen to advice from business leaders who are helping him plan for future success in an industry that needs local talent.

“My biggest takeaway was I have to fix my character like how I am personally to a more positive way. That way I can have that hospitality spirit that everyone keeps talking about,” he said. “As time goes on, I can work on myself and slowly get to that level where I have such a positive outlook on myself that I’m basically shining like the sun.”