Hawaii Tourism Authority saw a lift of 28.3% in convention & conference delegates for 2017, despite experiencing a 26.9% drop in incentive delegates.
Incentive delegates travelling to Hawaii from Australia dropped by a 26.9% in the months between September 2016 and September 2017, according to figures released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). More positively, however, HTA did see an encouraging lift in convention & conference delegates, increasing by 28.3% to 5,138. Corporate meetings also saw an 8.7% increase, to 68,756.
HTO sited the exchange rate and the ‘cyclical nature of incentive groups’ as the main challenges to the MICE market.
The average spend for business event delegates registered at $375, which is roughly 27% more than leisure travellers.
HTO also noted air seat capacity from Sydney to Hawaii increased through September by 3.8 percent. Still, total capacity from the Oceania market declined 8.4 percent due to Jetstar Airways suspending its service from Brisbane to Honolulu in October 2016, HTO says.
Last week, HTO announced the appointment of former Canberra Convention Bureau Director of Marketing and Communications Giselle Radulovic as its new Country Manager for Australia. Radulovic will be responsible for driving the strategic growth of Hawaii, while boosting its profile as a high-end MICE destination within the Australian market.
