World Tourism Blog

Cowabunga, Dude

Catching a wave is nothing new for Hawaiians. The first recorded account of surfing — penned around 1779 by a crew member aboard one of British explorer Captain James Cook’s ships — included two entire pages about local people climbing on boards in the water to wait for “the greatest Swell that sets on shore, & altogether push forward with their Arms to keep on its top.” By that time, the sport was already a centuries-old, integral part of Hawaiian culture: chiefs proved their mettle by showing off their wave-riding skills, and new surfboards were christened with chants at special ceremonies. Some Hawaiian place names are even derived from ancient surfing legends.

 Now That’s Diversity

When you talk about minorities in Hawaii, you’re talking about everyone. Unlike in most states, no racial or ethnic group constitutes a majority in the Aloha State. White residents make up just a quarter of the population — the lowest proportion in the country. (Which is 66% white overall, according to Census figures.) Nearly 40% of Hawaiians are classified as Asian, with an additional 9% native Hawaiian. Governor Linda Lingle calls Hawaii a place where “racial and ethnic lines are often blurred or deemed irrelevant.” Sounds like a logical birthplace for the first President to break the color line.

 The Middle of Nowhere

It’s a good thing the diverse people of Hawaii have managed to live together peacefully — it’s not easy to leave. The state is called the most isolated population center in the world — some 2,390 miles from the U.S. and nearly 4,000 miles from Japan. While its remoteness can make Hawaii an ordeal to visit (flights from Los Angeles take 5½ hours), it’s a boon for scientists. Hawaii is home to one of the largest clusters of telescopes and observatories in the world, taking advantage of the area’s low levels of air and light pollution. Last month the summit of Mauna Kea, on Hawaii’s Big Island, was chosen as the site for the world’s largest telescope — expected to be completed in 2018 with a price tag of more than $1 billion.

 Running on Island Time

Hawaii is so far removed from the rest of the U.S. that it has its own time zone. Hawaii-Aleutian standard time doesn’t observe daylight savings, running two hours behind Pacific standard time and five hours behind eastern standard time. That means that February’s Super Bowl XLIII, played in Tampa Bay, Fla., kicked off shortly after 1 p.m. Honolulu time. Guess it was wings and nachos for brunch.

 Who Needs 26 Letters?

How many states have their own language? Hawaiian is an ancient Polynesian tongue that manages to get by with only 12 letters (the five vowels plus h, k, l, m, n, p and w). The language that brought us such words as ukulele and wiki of Wikipedia fame was banned for more than a century and came close to disappearing before a movement took hold in the 1970s to preserve it. Now one of the state’s official languages, it’s spoken by thousands and provides the state’s official motto: “Ua mau ke ea o ka aina I ka pono,” which means “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.” (That was supposedly the response of Hawaii’s king to the end of a five-month British occupation in 1843.) Its latest sign of strength: Google introduced a Hawaiian version earlier this month.

Hawaii tourism officials hope the publicity churned up by the tsunami that struck the Aloha State Saturday afternoon won’t keep visitors from coming to the island. The state has been struggling to recover from the recession and a dramatic drop-off in tourism spending.

“There is no reason to cancel your visit,” said George Applegate, the executive director of the Big Island Visitors Bureau.

Part of Hawaii’s tourism infrastructure shut down because of the tsunami, which was triggered by the powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake that rattled Chile early Saturday.

Hilo International Airport, on the east side of the Island of Hawaii, closed in advance of the approaching wave. The airport is primarily used by interisland airlines. Other shuttered tourist attractions included the Honolulu Zoo, the Japanese Cultural Center, the Polynesian Cultural Center, Waikiki Aquarium and Wet N Wild Hawaii Waterpark.

The port of Honolulu was also closed. Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Pride of America was scheduled to dock in Honolulu early Saturday, but remained at sea until the Port of Honolulu reopened. “While at sea, this situation does not in any way compromise the safety and security of our passengers and crew,” NCL said in a statement. “Pride of America should be alongside shortly after that and we expect that the next cruise will depart later this evening.” The cruise line expected the ship to arrive at the pier between 7 and 9 p.m.

“So far there is no damage to anything,” Applegate said moments after the first wave hit late Saturday morning. “We’ll monitor the waves for several hours.”

The tsunami may be the least of the tourism industry’s worries. The Aloha State experienced a double-digit decline in visitor spending in January, which followed a difficult 2009 for the state’s tourism industry. Visitors spent $949 million in Hawaii last month, about 13 percent less than in January 2008, according to numbers released by the state. Several well-known resorts, including the IIikai Hotel and the Hawaiiana Hotel have closed, while many other properties faced foreclosure.

Like the soft tourism industry, the effects of the tsunami are likely to be felt for a while.

“Hawaii has a history of dangerous waves,” said Michael Brein, a former Oahu resident and travel psychology expert. “Everyone who lives there has it in the back of their minds that they really have to pay attention.”

Historically, visitors have not been as aware of the potential for a deadly wave, although after the Asian tsunami in 2004, tourists have become more conscious of the hazards, according to Brein. “This time, tourists were excited and a little scared. I think everyone knows how dangerous it could be,” he said.

He and other tourism experts think the publicity from the smaller-than-expected waves won’t deter people from visiting Hawaii.

Rather, it will be a soft economy and higher airfares that will make Americans take a vacation closer to home, they say.

As the predicted wave approached Hawaii, there was a sense that this would not affect the visitors on or off the island. Tim Lussier, a student at Hawai`i Pacific University, who was waiting in Waikiki for the first wave to come ashore late Saturday morning, reported that people were calm as the streets emptied of cars. “Everything is fine,” he said, even as the tsunami bore down on the beach.

Some current visitors to the island were certain to be displaced by the wave, says longtime Honolulu resident and tourism expert Jeanne Datz Rice, who described this tsunami as a “non-event.” Hotels in low-lying areas normally evacuate guests to higher rooms. “They’re moved up three floors,” she says, adding, “In a situation like this, everyone makes new friends.”

That’s exactly what happened to Kristina Arntz’ parents, Walter and Victoria Hughes of Martinsburg, W.V. The couple, which had been in Waikiki since Feb. 1, watched the waves roll in from the roof of their condominium, which was located just two blocks away from the beach.

“They seem fine,” said Arntz, who had been in contact with them by e-mail.

At the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, about 600 hotel guests were sent to the hotel’s second-floor ballroom in advance of the tsunami. They were offered sandwiches, pastries and soft drinks and played games until the danger passed, according to the hotel’s general manager, Rodney Ito. “We assured everyone that we were just following civil defense instructions,” he said moments after the waves arrived.

“We just got the ‘all-clear’ five minutes ago.”

Perhaps the biggest tsunami-related complaint had nothing to do with nature. Visitors complained about a lack of phone coverage as the waves grew closer and phone lines were jammed with calls from concerned relatives on the mainland. The Hughes couldn’t make cell phone calls earlier in the day, and calls to Hawaii were not going through because of busy circuits. Home Security Systems.