NaHHA connects the visitor industry with community for the benefit of our Hawaiʻi.

The ʻōlelo noʻeau “ʻO ke aloha ke kuleana o kahi malihini” refers to the reciprocal nature of aloha – an unfamiliar place expresses aloha through hosting a visitor, and it is the responsibility of that visitor to practice aloha to the community hosting them.

Kaiāulu Hoʻokipa: Connecting With Travelers Who Give Back

The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association and travel2change are partnering to help Hawaiʻi non-profit organizations and community groups build capacity to host experiences for kamaʻāina and visitors in a manner that advances the community’s vision and aspirations, a key concept of regenerative tourism.

The partnership will recruit interested groups for a pilot cohort that will commence in October. The program will include sessions to develop their organizational capacity, experience NaHHA’s signature Hawaiian cultural training, develop their experience offering, and list their activity on travel2change’s platform. Cohort members will meet with existing travel2change activity hosts, organizational development experts, NaHHA’s team of trainers and practitioners, and other professionals tailored for the cohort’s success.

Applications for the cohort are NOW CLOSED.

Information on the cohort is available at travel2change.org/apply.

Since 2011, travel2change has curated activities to connect mindful travelers with communities. Their website, travel2change.org, offers opportunities to join the stewards of special places across Hawaiʻi and work side by side to mālama native ecosystems, working fishponds and farms, and engage with our home on a deeper level. The visitors contribute their work/labor/mana, and any activity fees support the work of the stewardship group.

This work to grow opportunities for visitors to participate positively in the community is guided by the vision of the founders of both organizations, the strategic plan of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, the priorities of kamaʻāina as expressed in the Destination Management Action Plans, Hawaiʻi’s sustainability goals in the Aloha+ Challenge, the global UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the guiding principles of the ʻĀina Aloha Economic Futures Declaration.