Lingle, Aiona to promote Hawaii in Asia
Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona will travel to Asia next week to promote travel to Hawaii.
They will travel separately, visiting Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Japan and South Korea with the goal of increasing Asian visitors to the state.
The China and Korea markets are of special interest because travel restrictions recently were eased for leisure travel to the United States.
The trips will run Nov. 11-22. Lingle will travel to China, Taiwan and Indonesia. Aiona will visit Japan and South Korea. Both will be out of the country at the same time for about seven days, leaving Attorney General Mark Bennett as acting governor.
Lingle also will meet with Asian airline officials to discuss the possibility of increasing the number of flights and seats from Asian cities to Hawaii.
“It is critical that we do all we can to reach out to our traditional visitor base in Japan as well as emerging markets such as China and Korea to encourage people to visit Hawaii, and to ensure our state is well-positioned with increased flights and air seat capacity,” Lingle said in a prepared statement payday advance loans.
The trip is a result in part of meetings earlier this year with local hotel executives and industry leaders who encouraged the governor to increase Hawaii’s tourism outreach and marketing.
Travel expenses will be covered by several sources, including the East-West Center, the Hawaii Department of Transportation and the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.