HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

20

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE HERITAGE TOURISM COMMUNITY TO COLLABORATIVELY WORK TO, among other things, CREATE A HERITAGE TOURISM MARKETING PLAN FOR USE BY THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the state of Hawaii has a rich and vibrant heritage, blending history, architecture, values, and culture from its various ethnicities to create a unique community in the world; and

 

     WHEREAS, the state of Hawaii has transitioned from an economy dominated by agriculture to one where tourism is the main driver, contributing to over $12,800,000,000 in direct visitor expenditures statewide in 2007 according to the 2007 State of Hawaii Data Book; and

 

     WHEREAS, one of the fastest growing niches in the tourism industry is heritage tourism, travel that focuses on experiencing the places and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past and present in a particular location; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to a 2003 study by the Travel Industry Association and Smithsonian magazine, 81% of U.S. adults (118 million) who travelled in 2002 were considered cultural heritage travelers; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, numerous studies find that visitors to historic sites and cultural attractions stay longer and spend more money than other types of tourists, spending on average $623 per trip compared to $57 for all U.S. travelers excluding the cost of transportation; and

 

     WHEREAS, in January 2009, the Auditor released a management and financial audit critical of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the lead agency for advocating for Hawaii as a tourism destination, which noted the lack of long-term planning and strategic vision, among other things; and

 

     WHEREAS, there have been numerous heritage tourism success stories across our nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, facing the loss of jobs and population, communities in rural Kansas joined Marci Penner in founding the Kansas Sampler Foundation, which helped to identify resources in the community that could appeal to tourists – architecture, art, commerce, cuisine, customs, geography, history, and people, and worked to publish the Kansas Guidebook for Explorers, a successful guidebook that is now in its third printing and has spawned a sampler festival that attracts 6,000-8,000 attendees annually; and

 

     WHEREAS, in response to tough economic times and the potential loss of culture, the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience embarked on a marketing project called the Cultural Corridors project, which were tours that teamed with a bus company to increase tourism income for all towns along the route in both Mississippi and Louisiana; and

 

     WHEREAS, by leveraging $159,750 in advertising to secure more than a million dollars of publicity, the Museum found that after the summer of 1998, 77% of survey respondents indicated that they stayed overnight or spent money in restaurants, shops, and hotels in Jackson, Natchez, Utica, Vicksburg, Port Gibson, and Woodville, and as a result of the approximately 26,000 people who saw one of the Museum's exhibits, generated an estimated economic impact of $7.9 million for the region; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Maine Arts Commission and the Maine Office of Tourism organized a workshop for representatives of arts organization, museums, state agencies, chambers of commerce, historical societies and businesses to discuss heritage tourism; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Task Force that was created in the wake of that initial meeting built partnerships and sought ways to build a cultural heritage tourism in the state and were successful in conducting a statewide inventory of arts and heritage groups, creating a heritage map, and creating an out-of-state marketing campaign, which led to some museums experiencing an 80% increase in attendance and a $3.6 million state appropriation in 1999 that led to leveraging $10 million in outside funding; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii is generally accepted as a better known tourism mecca than any of the above examples; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that members of the heritage tourism community are urged to come together as a task force to collaboratively work to create, among other things, a marketing plan for use by the Hawaii Tourism Authority to more actively market Hawaii as a heritage tourist location; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the task force should include the Director of the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Executive Director of the Honolulu Culture and Arts District, the Executive Director of the Historic Hawaii Foundation, a representative of the State Historic Preservation Division, an archeologist knowledgeable about the preservation of cultural sites, and a representative of the armed forces in Hawaii; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the task force should also include representatives from the following organizations: Arts of Aloha, Haleiwa Main Street Program, Bishop Museum, Daughters of Hawaii, Father Damien Museum and Archives, Friends of Iolani Palace, the Hawaii State Foundation on the Culture and the Arts, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, the Hawaii Plantation Village, Scenic Hawaii, St. Andrew Cathedral, and Washington Place; and

 

                BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Director of the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Executive Director of the Honolulu Culture and Arts District, the Executive Director of the Historic Hawaii Foundation, the State Historic Preservation Division, Arts of Aloha, Haleiwa Main Street Program, Bishop Museum, Daughters of Hawaii, Father Damien Museum and Archives, Friends of Iolani Palace, the Hawaii State Foundation on the Culture and the Arts, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, the Hawaii Plantation Village, Scenic Hawaii, St. Andrew Cathedral, and the Governor.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Heritage tourism; marketing plan