The Indian market is one of the fastest-growing outgoing markets in the world, and the potential is tremendous for the Hawaii tourism industry. India enjoys good airlinks, both east and westbound. Besides Air India, United Airlines, Delta, Jet Airways, and most European carriers and air alliances service US gateways with easy access to Hawaii. Also Middle East airlines Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, and other Middle East carriers have excellent one-stop connections to US gateways both east and west bound. Korean Airlines, Japan Airlines, and ANA also offer one-stop connections to Honolulu.

Indian travelers love to go to the US, said HiTA President Juergen T. Steinmetz, when pre-announcing the appointment during PATA Travel Mart in Delhi last week. He said: “I personally think the potential could surplus the China potential. English is spoken in India, and there is an ever-growing population of middle-class Indian travelers who enjoy exploring the world, with millionaires added to the potential every day.

“Indians are demanding travelers. They expect a fair value for their money, and Hawaii needs some training and education to please Indian tourists to Hawaii. HiTA is ready to provide this training together with US commercial services and our newly-appointed tourism Ambassador to India. I spoke with Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu recently, and they loved the idea of doing Indian weddings on their resort property. Indian weddings are celebrated not only for some hours, but for a full week with large groups of family and friends attending.”

HiTA Ambassador Jayesh Ashar stated: “It was a pleasure indeed to have Juergen Steinmetz in Delhi, and I am honored to be appointed as a HiTA Ambassador. We discussed ideas to push Hawaii as a preferred destination for high-end India travelers.

“Travel Representation India [TRI] is extremely excited and honored to be appointed as the HiTA Ambassador for India. We believe the Indian market will be extremely lucrative for HiTA members and the destination in general.”

TRI has the following plans for marketing the destinations to the Indian market:

- Appoint 5 to 6 Preferred Sales Agents (PSA) in India to distribute the products in the B2C market through TRI.

- Send regular Hawaii promotional e-flyers to 5,000 agents in India.

- Invite HiTA members to road shows in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore, Chennai, and Kolkatta). TRI will host a few selected travel agents from neighboring cities to attend the road shows.

- Carry out advertisements in selected trade publications in India, with a maximum of 12 half-page ads in a year.

- Send the PSA network plus 2 media members on a familiarization trip to Hawaii.

- Push the film industry to carry out film shoots in Hawaii to promote the destination to the masses.

“We think the upcoming honeymoon season from November 2011 to March 2012, followed by school holidays from early April 2012 would be an opportune time to start targeting the B2B and B2C market segments,” Jayesh Ashar concluded.

HiTA invites the Hawaii travel industry to be part of their now growing Ambassador program. Support is needed from hotels, resorts, transportation companies, attractions, shops, and restaurants ready to receive new global visitors. Those from the Hawaii industry interested in joining HiTA’s efforts may write to [email protected].

City.Mobi

Also in US today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to Honolulu.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Honolulu.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.