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Hawaiian Culture Initiative
Connecting Hawaiian Community and the Visitor Industry
Ola Hawai‘i
For-Fee Consulting and Training Services
Past Conferences
Winner of the Gold Adrian Award

Hawaiian Culture Initiative

Goal

To honor and perpetuate the Hawaiian culture and community.

Objective 1

Strengthen the relationship between the visitor industry and the Hawaiian community.

Objective 2

Strive to nurture (mālama) the Hawaiian culture by creating visitor experiences, activities and marketing programs that are respectful and accurate.

Objective 3

Support Hawaiian programs and cultural practitioners, craftsman, musicians and other artists to preserve and perpetuate Hawaiian culture where appropriate.

Hawaiian Culture Initiative
Action Plan:

The Hawaiian Culture Initiative (HCI) is one of nine initiatives of the Hawai‘i Tourism Strategic Plan (TSP) 2005 - 2015. Developed by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, the TSP represents a shared vision for a sustainable, responsible, and successful tourism industry. HCI's overarching goal is to honor and perpetuate the Hawaiian culture and community.

The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA) was named as the lead organization for the HCI. NaHHA's first priority was to gather information and points of view from all stakeholders to create an informed Action Plan for actualizing the HCI. Numerous outreach efforts occurred including community meetings on all islands, individualized industry meetings, focus groups, special sessions, and the NaHHA Tourism Conference.

During this process it became clear that there were many diverse viewpoints about tourism, its impacts on Hawai‘i, and Hawaiian culture. Yet, there also were many common areas of concern. The Action Plan includes forty-five (45) Actions to fulfill the HCI objectives, and represents a cross-section of stakeholder input. The Action Plan is an effort to integrate and perpetuate Hawaiian culture, historic perspective, and values throughout the state's tourism industry.

What is NaHHA's role with the Action Plan?

Promote the Plan: Make the Action Plan available to relevant stakeholders and the public;
Explain and debate the Action Items: Facilitate meetings with various stakeholders to discuss Actions and communicate which recommended Actions are underway;
Gain commitment from proposed Lead Organizations or other entitiesto "champion" recommended Actions;
Support Lead Organizations or other entities in developing strategies and implementing Actions;
Measure progress and evaluate implementation periodically;
Continuously recruit new supporters and Lead Organizations; and,
Re-focus and adjust priorities as we move forward.

View full Hawaiian Culture Initiative Action plan (PDF, 3.8Mb)

Huki Like ‘Ana - A Call to Action:

Huki Like ‘Ana - A Call to Action is a report of recommendations that came primarily from members of the Hawaiian community. There were other contributors in smaller numbers including personnel from government agencies, members of the visitor industry, and supporters of Hawaiian interests from other ethnic groups. These recommendations have been incorporated into the Action Plan along with other stakeholder input.

View full Huki Like Ana - A Call to Action (PDF, 3.2Mb)

Connecting Hawaiian Community
and the Visitor Industry

Keep informed about latest efforts between the Hawaiian community and the visitor industry through NaHHA's electronic newsletter, Ku‘i Ka Pahu
If you are a Hawaiian organization or visitor industry business, contact us to participate in a program that links business with community organizations in mutually beneficial partnerships
Learn what members of the Hawaiian community have recommended about host culture and tourism in the Huki Like ‘Ana - A Call to Action document
Join Kalo Kanu o ka ‘Aina - a group made up of Hawaiians and supporters that work in tourism - to share, learn and perpetuate Hawaiian culture, and support efforts for Hawaiians to become involved in the industry
Support the Hawaiian Culture Initiative Action Plan and participate in championing recommended actions.

Ola Hawai‘i

"Shaping the Future of Tourism: Expanding Opportunities for Native Hawaiians"

The issue of cultural training with relevance to the visitor industry is of great interest to NaHHA. We feel fortunate to have an opportunity to present Ola Hawai‘i as one of several opportunities that addresses this issue.

Visit the Ola Hawai‘i Section »

For-Fee Consulting and Training Services

For businesses, developers, and local community interested in training and consulting to perpetuate Hawaiian culture, values and traditions among their employees and managers, to bring a Hawaiian sense of place to their properties, or any other related needs, NaHHA can help you by referring an appropriate consultant.

We have staff members, consultants, business partners, and community associates who bring a wealth of experience, a variety of disciplines, and a multi-disciplinary approach to your projects. We are especially proud of the Ola Hawai‘i program which has an extensive curriculum on Hawaiian culture...

Past Conferences

2008 NaHHA Statewide Tourism Conference

2008 Sponsors:
Hawai‘i Tourism Authority
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
Hawai‘i Visitors & Convention Bureau
Hawaiian Airlines
Hawai‘i Convention Center
Kamehameha Schools
Grand Hyatt Kaua'i
Resort and Spa
American Savings Bank

Hō‘ā Ka Lamakū - Keep the Torch Burning
Mahalo to all who helped make our 2008 conference a success! The generous support of our sponsors enabled us to continue promoting Hawaiian culture and values and creating alliances to implement the Hawaiian Culture Initiative Action Plan. The knowledge shared by speakers and presenters inspired and informed us. Support from our volunteers was invaluable. We are grateful to the many artists, vendors, and Hawaiian organizations and businesses who participated in the marketplace. Great appreciation especially goes out to all of the people who attended the conference and helped make it a worthwhile event.

2006 NaHHA Statewide Tourism Conference

In 2006, NaHHA hosted its first Statewide Tourism Conference. Evaluations and postconference feedback verify that the Conference was a positive step forward and laid a successful foundation from which to pursue future work. For many, it helped establish a greater degree of hope to improve and shape the future of tourism. For others, the threads of distrust between the community, government, and commerce began unraveling, creating opportunities to build better relationships and increase cooperation.

In over forty years of tourism development, an opportunity of this magnitude has never been brought forth. It is imperative that we all work together to achieve greater understanding between our host Hawaiian community and our State's major industry. Together we can shape a responsible, sustainable tourism model to protect our island home and benefit all our people. We greatly appreciate your patience.

Questions & Answers
During the Hawaiian Tourism Conference, participants submitted questions on cards for panelists to answer. Due to time constraints, all the questions could not be answered at the Conference. After the Conference, NaHHA sent the unanswered questions to the panelists with the understanding that the answers would be posted on our Conference website. Mahalo to the Conference panelists for agreeing to answer the questions which were significant in number. As NaHHA receives additional answers to questions from various panelists, we will continue posting them. Our commitment to Conference participants was to begin posting the answers in July.

- Q&A: Murray Towill, President of Hawai‘i Hotel & Lodging Association
- Q&A: Rex D. Johnson, President & CEO of Hawai‘i Tourism Authority

Mahalo

On behalf of the NaHHA staff and Board of Directors, we would like to extend a warm, heartfelt mahalo to those who made this Conference a success.

Mahalo to all the sponsors who helped bring this Conference to fruition.

Mahalo nui to all the participants, attendees, entertainers, volunteers, cultural practitioners, workshop facilitators, panelists and keynote speakers for their valuable talents, wisdom, and contributions.

A special mahalo to Sean Craig for all his help.

Gold Adrian Award

The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) will recognize NaHHA and Loomis-ISC with a

Gold Adrian Award for excellence for its winning entry in the 53rd annual Adrian Awards Competition

the largest and most prestigious travel marketing competition globally. The winning entry is the Ola Hawai‘i Manual and Resource Book.

The award will be presented during the 20th annual HSMAI Adrian Awards Gala, a black-tie affair attended by more than 1,000 hospitality, travel and tourism marketing executives, on Feb. 1, 2010 at the New York Marriott Marquis. This year's contest attracted nearly 1,100 entries from around the world, with entries judged by top executives from all sectors of the industry.