The Hawaii Tourism Authority recently wrapped up its annual conference with a series of projections, predictions and plans. Our state plans to target Hong Kong and Southeast Asia with marketing dollars in the hopes of bringing new visitors to Hawaii.
As for the rest of Asia, there’s increasing awareness of regional competition for a growing number of tourists who are newly able to spend money on international travel.
Two regional rivals that frequently compare themselves to Hawaii are striving to rise to the next level of international tourism: China鈥檚 Hainan Island and South Korea鈥檚 Jeju Island.
Hawaii is such a powerful brand that it鈥檚 used by marketers of beach holidays thousands of miles away from these islands.
So it shouldn’t be a shock that Chinese authorities have tried for some time to peddle Hainan Island as “the Hawaii of China,” while South Korean tourism leaders call Jeju “the Hawaii of Korea.”
Hainan Island has been particularly shameless about using Hawaii to sell itself. According to an article published in the Jing Daily in the spring, the local tourism business has tried to create its own shaka-like hand signal (think peace sign) and even its own version of aloha 鈥 using the . The Peoples Daily claims the word “delivers the expression of welcome and greeting, referring to friendship and best wishes.”
The Jing Daily, which covers the “Business of Luxury and Culture in China,” quotes the editor of the travel website eTurboNews as saying Hainan’s efforts to copy Hawaii are “” that it’s “almost embarrassing to see.”
Hainan is China’s only tropical island, and the flight to get there from Hong Kong takes about an hour and a half. It’s not quite in the category of “undiscovered” locales given that the Ritz Carlton, Sheraton, Hilton, and Mandarin Oriental are already there.
There are relaxed visa requirements for international visitors to the island, and less onerous financial regulations for overseas investors.
The Jing Daily, which covers the “Business of Luxury and Culture in China,” quotes the editor of the travel website eTurboNews as saying efforts to copy Hawaii are “so blatantly obvious” that it’s “almost embarrassing to see.”
For Chinese tourists, there is the lure of duty-free shopping. Just this week, the state-run Xinhua News agency announced the opening of the world’s biggest duty-free shopping mall in Hainan 鈥 reported to be an investment of more than $800 million by the China International Travel Service Group.
Shopping is less of a tourist magnet for Jeju Island, the spot the South Korean travel industry likes to refer to as “the Hawaii of Korea.”
While Jeju is a volcanic island with a distinct culture and history that is unique from the rest of the country, there are not many other obvious parallels with Hawaii.
It is true that one of the island’s resorts is called “Blue Hawaii,” although temperatures frequently dip into the thirties (Fahrenheit) in January and February.
Despite the seasonal chills, the island does attract tourists. Long a favorite destination for Korean newlyweds, Jeju has more recently mounted an aggressive and largely successful campaign to draw Chinese visitors, including a process that grants visa-free access. The strategy has matched aspirations at the national level.
According to a report this summer from the Chinese online travel agency CTrip, South Korea is expected to overtake Thailand this year as the most popular overseas destination for Chinese travelers.
Airlines have increased direct flights between the countries. And while the Japanese used to be the biggest group of visitors to South Korea that position has recently been claimed by the Chinese.
It has not hurt that political relations between China and South Korea have improved in recent years.
Whatever the combination of factors leading to increased Chinese travel to South Korea, Jeju Island is benefiting from the trend. CTrip reports nearly four million Chinese people visited South Korea last year. Almost half of them spent some time in Jeju. Shanghai is about an hour and a half away by air.
For Hawaii, there are lessons to be learned from business and investment policies that work. And sometimes there are even better lessons from those that don鈥檛.
Closer proximity to the Asian market is one characteristic shared by Hainan and Jeju.
Both locations have also taken steps to ease travel visas. As for competitive advantage, Hawaii鈥檚 distance from Asian cities is not exactly a negotiable issue and government officials from the HTA and the governor鈥檚 office all the way through to our congressional delegation are working on making visa procurement a less complicated process.
That leaves business investment.
Officials in both Hainan and Jeju have put considerable effort into ways to attract joint development projects that link outside money to local partners. So Hainan has Russian-run restaurants serving visitors from Vladivostok while Jeju has projects in development linking local groups and Chinese capital.
Critics say some of that foreign investment has come too quickly 鈥 especially on Jeju, where it is largely aimed at condominium and casino projects.
For Hawaii, there are lessons to be learned from business and investment policies that work. And sometimes there are even better lessons from those that don鈥檛.
State tourism officials will undoubtedly be watching 鈥淎sia鈥檚 Hawaii鈥檚鈥 for insights of both varieties.
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About the Author
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Bill Dorman is News Director at Hawaii Public Radio. He lived and worked in Asia for 10 years, covering stories from more than a dozen countries and territories for CNN and Bloomberg News. His broadcast experience also includes work in New York and Washington, D.C. His 鈥淎sia Minute鈥 feature can be heard weekday mornings on HPR.