The Hawaii Tourism Association will be exhibiting under the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP) umbrella at the TTG Intercontri Travel Show in Rimini, Italy, from October 6-8. Mr. Steinmetz will be assisted by Mr. Mario Masculini, the HiTA representative for Italy.

HiTA will then take the message of aloha to IMEX America. HiTA will be exhibiting independent from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, and together with the International Council of Tourism Partners. IMEX America is very important and is expected to be the first truly global meeting and incentive event in the USA. The MICE industry is a great opportunity for Hawaii to strengthen exposure to its excellent convention facilities. HiTA is pleased that the Hawaii Convention Center will be in Singapore to showcase the Aloha State.

Juergen Steinmetz said: “We’re pleased to partner with ICTP to attend this important trade event in Las Vegas. We strongly believe countries, including the United States, should adapt their visa processing to include easy facilitation of electronic visa options.

“Most major global trade shows are not held in the US. The main reason for Hawaii not being more utilized is not for lack of excellent facilities, but because of difficulties for potential foreign participants to enter the US. We hope IMEX will be a good example and will generate a message to urge US Homeland Security to speed up this process to establish electronic visas. Electronic Visas are used in many countries with great success, including Australia. I also hope APEC being hosted in Hawaii will send the same message to our administration in Washington, DC.”

After attending and exhibiting at IMEX, HITA will continue to Singapore to attend and exhibit at ITB Asia. In Singapore, Mr. Steinmetz will be meeting with US Commercial Services and the newly-appointed Hawaii Tourism Association Ambassador to Singapore. Mr. Steinmetz said: “ITB is a global event, and ITB Asia’s focus is on Asia. Asia is an important source market for Hawaii. Our new ambassador program raised a lot of attention, and I’m excited to discuss new opportunities for our state in the region.”