From Pacific Business News
New Kauai firm hits the trail
Aloha Horseback Rides at Koloa Town is the latest option for active vacationers on Kauai.
The company will offer morning, noon and sunset rides on trails located on the Garden Isle's south shore.
Much of the ride will be through the more than 200 acres of a local ranch.
Costs for the daily rides will range from $75 for a short ride of up to 90 minutes to $100 for the regularly scheduled rides to $250 for private rides.
American Eagle Airlines CFO Peter Ingram will join Hawaiian Airlines as its chief financial officer.
He will succeed Hawaiian's interim CFO Steve Jackson, who has had the job since August 2004, the airline said in a press statement.
Hawaiian, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings Inc., emerged from bankruptcy in June.
The 15th Annual International Tropical Fruit Conference will be presented by the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers (HTFG) at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Hilo, HI from October 21 to 23.
HTFG is a membership-based, non-profit organization with the primary purpose of promoting the interests of any and all aspects of tropical fruit in the state. HTFG is dedicated to expanding and improving the tropical fruit industry in Hawaii which will, in turn, benefit the farmers, suppliers and processors supporting this industry. This will subsequently increase the sustainable agriculture and economic base of our beautiful islands, making life here even more wonderful for us all.
Each fall tropical fruit enthusiasts from across Hawaii, the mainland and around the globe, gather together at this conference which serves as the focal point of information dissemination and training for the industry. The far-reaching and timely topics highlight new research, industry news, and trends. Featured speakers are tropical fruit experts from around the world.
To find out more, or to register for this event, contact Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers: P.O. Box 1582, Hilo, HI 96721-1582; Phone (808) 966-6444; fax (808) 966-6477; e-mail htfghawaii@ verizon.net.
Make your air and land arrangemnts at Travel-Hawaii.com
from Pacific Business News
Hawaiian Airlines has secured the top spot for its in-flight, first-class meals, based on a poll of Conde Nast Traveler magazine readers.
This is the second time that Hawaiian's first-class service earned the top rank.
Maui chef Beverly Gannon, who runs Haliimaile General Store and Joe's Bar & Grill on the Valley Isle, created the menus for the first and coach classes in keeping with the airline's campaign, "Hawaii starts here."
"Our goal is to create in-flight meals that make travelers feel like they're dining in a restaurant and not on an airplane," Gannon said.
Book your flight on Hawaiian Air at Travel-Hawaii.
From Pacific Business News
October arrivals by air will top 400,000 during the day Tuesday. Traffic is on track to produce a 700,000-arrival month.
The estimated arrival count hit 372,030 by Monday morning, the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism reported. Extrapolating that to the full 31-day month produces 720,000 arrivals or better.
The increase in traffic, compared to last year, is smaller in shoulder season. Arrivals were up 8.4 percent in May, 9.8 percent in June, 7.4 percent in July and 7.8 percent in August. But there were up 6.3 percent in September and so far this month they are up only 4.3 percent.
That reflects 5.2 percent more Mainland arrivals, with the extra traffic going almost entirely to two islands.
Honolulu domestic arrivals are up only six tenths of a percent while Big Island arrivals are actually down 2.2 percent so far this month, but Maui arrivals are up 20 percent and Kauai arrivals are up 23.7 percent.
Japanese arrivals this month are down 4 percent. Japanese arrivals for the month should pass 100,000 by Wednesday of this week.
THE KONA COFFEE CULINARY INVITATIONAL will take place on the Big Island at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort on Nov. 9. Wine and beer are paired with dishes created with the coffee bean by local chefs, including Outrigger executive chef Jason Koppinger, who oversees the event. The invitational will take place in the Royal Gardens from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Call the hotel at (808) 324-2554 or visit www.konacoffeefest.com for more information.
Make air, hotel and car arrangements to visit at Travel-Hawaii.
Clean, cosmopolitan looks replace traditional tropical furniture, prints
by Prabha Natarajan
Pacific Business News
Remodeled Waikiki hotel rooms are subtly shifting to a more minimalist, cosmopolitan look and abandoning koa, hibiscus prints and the tropical Tommy Bahama-style decor that have defined island accommodations.
Solid beige and ivory contrasted with coffee brown dominate the showpiece Vera Wang suite at the Halekulani that goes for $4,000 a night and looks more Manhattan than Waikiki.
Bright white sheets with a patterned duvet and a wall-mounted TV set are the bare essentials in one of the freshly remodeled standard rooms at the Sheraton Waikiki.
Along with Hawaii-specific decor like multicolored bedspreads, the Sheraton is getting rid of heavy tables and chairs, the bulky TV cabinet and other "clutter," aiming for a cleaner, sleeker look that also makes the rooms seem more spacious.
It's a trend that accelerates the matching of Hawaii hotel and resort decor to that of hotels on the Mainland.
Local properties that once thrived on their unique "Hawaiian" look are now conforming to corporate-dictated uniform design standards: beds with white sheets, paint instead of wallpaper, shadeless table lamps, no tropical-pattern upholstery, no scenic paintings, no dark wood.
By Robert W. Bone
From Travel Weekly
WAIMANALO, Hawaii - No argument here. The new tourist luau at Sea Life Park on Oahu is the only luau in the world to feature a baby wholphin.
Right off the bat, a wholphin - in the park but not yet in the dictionary - is a cross between a dolphin and a false killer whale.
Actually, the baby is now only one-quarter whale, since her mother was the world's first wholphin, born in Sea Life Park in 1985. Her father was the whale, her mother an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin.
Strictly speaking, the wholphins, dolphins, whales, seals, turtles, penguins and other marine creatures at Sea Life Park do not actually appear on stage or in the audience at the luau. But as part of the program, luau guests visit them and see a sea-life show before they move on to the nearby stage and tables set outdoors in an area of the park called the Meadows.
From then on, the show is the tried-and-true luau, but one of the better examples of the species. The Polynesian music and dance show is by Tihati, a local production company which has been doing this kind of thing for 30 years. The food, both Hawaiian and haole (non-Hawaiian) comes from Sea Life Park's own kitchens, and veteran luau watchers (including this reporter) rated it top quality.
Dances, music and costumes represent styles from several Pacific islands at Sea Life Park’s luau.The buffet includes sashimi, lomi lomi salmon, tako poke, tofu with shoyu ginger, potato/macaroni salad, cucumber/tako namasu, teriyaki beef, grilled mahi-mahi, kalua pig, laulau, poi, chicken long rice, yakisoba, Hawaiian sweet potato, haupia and assorted cakes and pies. Two drinks are included in the price.
As light fades over the nearby ocean, the audience experiences dances, music and costumes representing styles from several Pacific islands. The show also includes a fire dancer, and even one comic hula performed by a 4-year-old member of the troupe. Volunteers from the audience are also coaxed on stage to try to learn the hula.
Sea Life Park has had several owners and managers since it opened in 1964. Most recently owned by a New York investment company, it was taken over in January by Dolphin Discovery, the company that operates several marine-oriented parks in the Caribbean and in Mexico, notably Xcaret on the Yucatan Peninsula.
The owners have been implementing several changes and improvements in the facility over the past six months and have indicated more are on the way.
Basic all-included prices for the evening luau are adults, $83.33, juniors (4 through 12), $50. There are discounted prices for military personnel. Transportation from Waikiki is available for $12. All tickets to the luau include admission passes to the park, which are good for up to 30 days.
Sea Life Park and the luau are commissionable to agents who call Atlantis Adventures at (808) 973-9805.
Sea Life Park is near the extreme eastern end of Oahu, about a 30-minute drive from Waikiki. For more information about the park, or to make reservations, phone (808) 259-7933. The park's Web site is at www.sealifeparkhawaii.com.
From Pacific Business News
Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines are offering $39.50 one-way interisland fares to stimulate travel in the slow season.
Aloha started it Monday with a "free return flight" offer, in which the return leg of travel between Honolulu and key neighbor island locales (traveling either way) is free provided one leaves on the first flight of the morning and returns on the last flight of the evening.
Hawaiian responded Tuesday with a "half-price" offer of $39.50, effectively the same offer except that travelers have the option of taking savings in only one direction in exchange for leaving later or returning earlier.
On Tuesday night, Aloha replied that it will not be undersold and therefore would match the Hawaiian offer.
Both airlines posted details, including restrictions, on their Web sites www.hawaiianair.com and www.alohaair.com but the main restrictions are blackout dates around Thanksgiving and Christmas and a requirement to book the travel online to reap the full benefit. Taxes and fees are extra.
The Sheraton Waikiki introduced live jazz on Friday nights in the Hanohano Room beginning at 9 p.m. Local jazz artists such as the Honolulu Jazz Quartet, DeShannon Higa and Miles Jackson will perform until 1 a.m. to those who care to sip champagne and sample pupus as well as diners at the fine cuisine restaurant. For more information and schedules of performers, visit www.sheraton-waikiki.com.
For air, hotel and car arrangements visit Travel-Hawaii.com.
ALOHA AIRLINES, which has been in Chapter 11 since Dec. 30, 2004, has signed a letter of intent with two Los Angeles-based companies for financial investments that would allow the carrier to emerge from bankruptcy as early as December. The Yucaipa Cos. would provide $30 million of the necessary $50 million needed to emerge from Chapter 11.
