WAILUKU (AP) — The Maui Visitors Bureau is hoping to attract more new visitors to the islands this year. ADVERTISING WAILUKU (AP) — The Maui Visitors Bureau is hoping to attract more new visitors to the islands this year. Officials
WAILUKU (AP) — The Maui Visitors Bureau is hoping to attract more new visitors to the islands this year.
Officials are focusing on “never been” travelers from the East Coast and other parts of the mainland, reported The Maui News reports (http://bit.ly/1DMbcax ).
In the first six months of the year, the island has attracted more than 1,296,000 visitors so far this year. Nearly half came from the 11 states west of the Rocky Mountains.
Only about 361,000 came from the other states.
Direct flights from the East Coast to Hawaii would help change that, officials say.
“Ease of travel is very important,” said Terryl Vencl, executive director of Maui Visitors Bureau. “Today’s traveler has enough hassles with flying without making stops where a cancellation or weather condition can cause delay. Today’s traveler wants to get to their destination as quickly as possible and not burn up extra vacation time getting there.”
Jay Talwar, the chief marketing officer for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, said about a third of North America’s 26 million “avid travelers” have not been to Hawaii. He believes they can be attracted by an off-the-beaten path experience.
“This is a destination where you can come to see the iconic experiences and sights, but quite often … those moments in between the journey where you just kind of wander off the path and let Hawaii happen exposes elements of the destination,” he said.
On Friday, the bureau said they will increase their presence in magazines and on social media sites, as well as host a series of media blitzes in harder-to-reach places like Chicago, New York and Dallas.
The Maui bureau also hopes to increase its international visitors including Korea, China and Taiwan. The only nonstop international flights to Maui arrive from Canada.
