$3M Emergency Campaign To Shore Up Hawaii Tourism
(Honolulu Advertiser)
Hawaii tourism officials are spending $3 million to bolster sagging visitor arrivals to the islands, the Honolulu Advertiser reports.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority will spend $3 million from an emergency fund to market the state as a good value destination for the North American visitor market. The move was made following a drop in arrivals because of the bankruptcy of Aloha Airlines and ATA, and rising airline ticket prices due to higher oil costs.
The $3 million is part of a $5 million emergency fund appropriation approved by the state Legislature in its recently concluded session. The Aloha Air and ATA bankruptcies caused a 15 percent drop in seats from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii, the newspaper reports.
Some tourism industry officials are forecasting a dip in airline ticket prices later this year.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/NEWS01/805080355/1001
