Successful Meetings - January 2008 - (Page 52)

Resort Meetings salesmen with a trip to Hawaii to see their product, tour the islands, go surfing, and try a luau. “Just think—it’s the start of the business, custom, and incentive market,” says Jenkins. Elvis had even more influence on the American paradise in real life. Hawaii’s most visited attraction, the USS Arizona Memorial, was launched partly with funds from Elvis’ 1973 Aloha from Hawaii Concert. The Coco Palms Resort (Kauai), the site of Elvis’ wedding in Blue Hawaii, is a virtual shrine for the faithful (it is also expected to reopen as a condo property in 2008); and this year, a statue of the King of rock ’n’ roll was erected in front of the Neal Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. While the Technicolor paradise in which Elvis pursued both his dreams and girls is alive and recognizable; the tourism industry has grown up, having become vastly diversified since the ’60s. For example, many of the state’s top luxury resorts, such as the Princeville Hotel (Kauai), Turtle Bay Resort (Oahu), the JW Marriott Ihilani (Oahu), and the Kapalua and Grand Wailea resorts (Maui), are now located within gated communities. Some of these built-up communities may offer groups special rates or amenities as an advantage program, says Michael Murray, vice president of sales and marketing, corporate, meetings and incentives for the Hawaii VCB. “For example, across from the Grand Wailea Resort are condos, which the resort manages. Some planners will actually take a block of the townhomes, maybe for their VIPs, maybe for a family-oriented type of program.” In Waikiki, along Kalakaua Avenue, Hawaii’s first resorts (dating from the Steamer Age), the Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian, are undergoing extensive renovations. The newly rebranded Westin Moana Surfrider (formerly a Sheraton), which has undergone a “Westin-ization,” will debut Waikiki’s first and only beachfront spa early this year. Also in 2008, the landmark Royal Hawaiian will close for a $110-million renovation that will, among other things, relocate its lobby and create an event lawn. “With improvements and revitalization,” notes Murray, “the entire area has evolved. mimegasite.com If you haven’t been here in a while, you have to come see how it’s really changed dramatically.” Debra Swersky, planner for New Yorkbased Inside Sports, says, “My perceptions, prior to visiting Oahu, were that every island of Hawaii was a tranquil and peaceful place and very un-city-like. But after seeing Waikiki and Kalakaua Avenue, I couldn’t believe how ‘casual-New York’ it was—albeit much better weather, air, and sky sights!” Down the beach, the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which is the largest meetings-friendly resort on Oahu, has completed a $15-million restoration of its famous historic Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Lagoon and is adding another tower. Despite—or perhaps, because of—rampant modernizing, the islands are keen to preserve the “aloha” culture that is now in its second century of welcoming tourists. Aven Wright-McIntosh, spokesperson for the Big Island’s Fairmont Orchid, says, “We don’t live in grass huts on the shoreline, not everyone surfs—although at least half of the population can do a fascinating hula dance on the spot.” At the Orchid, the new Luana Lounge works JANUARY 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 52 http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - January 2008

Successful Meetings - January 2008 Contents Editor's Note Associations Research Events Suppliers Associations On the Record Associations Suppliers Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Management Matters Meeting the Law Personal Success Mouth for Sale Food & Beverage Professional Development On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Veggie Power Tennis, Anyone? Seeing is Believing The Wild Green Yonder Game On Places & Spaces Galveston & Texas Beaches Greater Seattle Singapore Gurus

Successful Meetings - January 2008

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