Travel agents are the largest booking source with 63.5% of Australian travellers booking their holiday to Hawaii through a travel agent.
In true ‘Aloha’ spirit Hawaii Tourism Oceania together with Hawaiian Airlines hosted Hawai’i Mākeke (market) in Sydney yesterday presenting growing numbers of Aussie travellers to the destination.
Ashlee Galea, Country Manager Australia at Hawaii Tourism Oceania was presenting a market update demonstrating a strong demand for the destination amongst Australian travellers resulting in a significant increase of 21.5% in visiting numbers for the first quarter of 2015 compared to previous year.
Oahu continues to be the most popular island with 69,665 Australian visitors in the first quarter of 2015 followed by Maui (13,646), Hawaii Island (10,925), Kauai (6,243), Lanai (1,152) and Molokai (658).
Travel agents are the largest booking source with 63.5% of Australian travellers booking their holiday to Hawaii through a travel agent.
Ashlee Galea, Country Manager Australia at Hawaii Tourism Oceania was presenting a market update.
“We’ve seen a significant growth for the first quarter this year compared to last year which is really exciting given January and February are usually our slow months”
Ashlee Galea, Country Manager Australia, Hawaii Tourism Oceania
According to Ashlee Galea the group business segment is doing really well and there is an opportunity to capture sport associations for marathons as well as other larger group trips.
Other opportunities include the honeymooners a segment that continues to grow (+14.9%), domestic ‘stop-overs’ (+5.6%), families and multi-generation travellers.
Hawaii Tourism is also looking to work more on the luxury market which is less affected by the weakening Australian dollar.
Despite the weakening Australian dollar visitors are still going on shopping sprees since they are still able to get a good deal.
“We continue to leverage the shopping despite the low Aussie dollar since the American brands still offer great value”
Ashlee Galea, Country Manager Australia, Hawaii Tourism Oceania
Janaya Birse and Holly Ballard from Hawaii Tourism Oceania.
Meredith Salotto from Hawaiian Airlines was giving an update on the airline and how the focus on the ‘Aloha’ spirit gives the passengers a feeling of ‘ being on a holiday’ as soon as they step inside the aircraft.
Every step of the customer service has been injected by the Hawaiian spirit from the warm Aloha from the cabin crew to the coconut soap in the lavatory.
“We’ve really brought back that love affair with Hawaii”
Meredith Salotto, Hawaiian Airlines
Meredith Salotto from Hawaiian Airlines.