{"id":1592,"date":"2026-06-19T14:33:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1592"},"modified":"2026-06-19T14:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:33:54","slug":"ambassadors-of-aloha-food-events-aim-to-boost-tourism-with-unique-hawaii-made-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1592","title":{"rendered":"Ambassadors of aloha: Food events aim to boost tourism with unique Hawaii-made products"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – It\u2019s shaping up to be a slower-than-usual summer for Hawaii\u2019s tourism industry, but business leaders hope events that market the islands\u2019 unique local food and products can turn that around.<\/p>\n

Read more Water main break in McCully prompts road closure<\/a><\/p>\n

The state expects total visitor arrivals to grow only about 2 percent this year. Numbers slid half a percent in April from the previous year, with the largest market, West Coast tourists, falling nearly 5 percent. The statewide hotel occupancy rate averaged 76.4 percent. <\/p>\n

Economists blame higher airfares, rising inflation, fewer international visitors and uncertainty following the March kona low storms. <\/p>\n

State-supported events like the Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association\u2019s (HLTA) Hawaii Hotel and Restaurant Show and DBEDT\u2019s Hawaii Made Conference aim to boost tourism by promoting products you can only find in Hawaii.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to struggle, but we can\u2019t stop promoting. We can\u2019t stop advocating,\u201d said HLTA President\/CEO Mufi Hannemann. \u201cIf you can travel during these times, you\u2019re going to come and have a wonderful experience in Hawaii whether you\u2019re just coming for sun and surf or you\u2019re coming here to immerse in our culture or to do business, this is the place to come.\u201d <\/p>\n

And those who do come are spending more. <\/p>\n

At the Hotel and Restaurant Show this week, local food manufacturers hoped to secure more buyers in the hospitality industry. <\/p>\n

Many rely on business and leisure visitors trying their products while in Hawaii and taking them back home where they promote it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe traceability that you want to know where your food is coming from,\u201d said June Rees, general manager of Kauai Shrimp, which has 40 ponds off the coast of Kekaha. You\u2019ll find their shrimp on many menus across the islands.<\/p>\n

Read more First Alert Forecast: Light winds with spotty showers expected to persist through the weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people that heard about us but never tried, so this show gives us exposure to the new restaurant or chef that have heard about the name but never really tried the product.\u201d <\/p>\n

But fewer tourists mean less sales and slower business growth and investment.<\/p>\n

Jina Wye is the founder of Okonokai, which makes snacks from native seaweed grown off the Kona coast on Hawaii Island. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s like a superfood that everyone should be eating everyday,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of just missing infrastructure for manufacturing, but that\u2019s something that we\u2019re working on. It\u2019s actually why I\u2019m part of this whole like DBEDT pavilion because the state is really working hard to develop more infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the family behind Aloha Star Coffee Farm, getting their award-winning premium kona coffee into airports, hotels and restaurants is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting the opportunity to find the market niche that we need,\u201d said Karina Rodriguez, co-owner of Aloha Star Coffee. \u201cWe are small, that sometimes we don\u2019t have all the resources for marketing and, and going to the biggest stores, and we are working on that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Food entrepreneurs will get another chance to promote their products at DBEDT\u2019s Hawaii Made Conference this Tuesday at the Sheraton Waikiki. Click here to register and for more information.<\/p>\n

The 16th Hawaii Food & Wine Festival is another event that promotes local chefs and restaurants while promoting tourism. It spans three weekends from Oct. 16 to Nov. 8 across three islands. Find information here. <\/p>\n

Read more Man accused of killing housemate on Kauai pleads not guilty<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Business leaders hope events marketing Hawaii’s unique local food and Hawaii-made products will turn around lackluster visitor numbers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAmbassadors of aloha: Food events aim to boost tourism with unique Hawaii-made products - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1592\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ambassadors of aloha: Food events aim to boost tourism with unique Hawaii-made products - 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