Q.  I have a family who is planning a trip to Oahu in June 2009.  They would like to stay in the Turtle Bay area- are there any good deals or promotions available in May to late June?
A.The best place to look for that information would be on our consumer site gohawaii.com and contact a supplier directly.  We do not have too much detailed information on supplier offers on our agent site, agents.gohawaii.com.  Our agent site is more for the sales and marketing toolbox.  You will notice that on any page of the agent site there is a link to our consumer site gohawaii.com. You can click on that link and do a search for Turtle Bay Resorts and go to their site.  You will find the travel trade section on their site that will provide you with the best rates.  You might also consider going to one of the wholesale partners you work with and see what kind of rates they offer.  We have a list of wholesale providers on our site.  Just click on “wholesaler partners” to see a list of the providers we work with.  Each provider listed is a clickable link that will take you directly to their site.

Q.  Do you have to retake the Ke Kula O Hawaii test each year?
A.  No you do not.  Once you take the course you are a graduate for life.  If you haven’t taken it since June 2006 we suggest going back and taking a look at the new information.  We have revised the course work since then and are revising it again now.  So it is good to go back once and awhile to see what is new, however it is not required.

Q.  How long do you have for completing the training for the Hawaii Specialist?
A.  You can take as long as you need.  You can take a couple weeks or even a couple months if you need to.  There is nothing that is going to track your progress along the way.  It is up to you to read the materials as you find time and at the end you will take the final exam.  During the final exam you will be limited to 20 minutes to answer the 20 questions.  That is the only time restriction.  Also, so you are aware, somewhere in the course work there is a password that you need to have in order to access the final exam.  It was built in to keep people from skipping the course work and going straight to the exam.  So you will need to read through the course work in order to find the special password to access the final exam.

Q.  What criteria is needed in using the picture images?
A.  On the site agents.gohawaii.com you will see “Marketing Toolbox” in the left toolbar.  Click on that and agree to some usage rights.  A page will come up that with the terms and conditions.  On that page you will click images down at the bottom and select “I agree.”  Next you will be brought to a page where you will be able to view over 900 of our images.  You can sort them by different categories on the left, such as activities or people.  You can also do a keyword search on top of the page to find a particular item.  Next, select the image(s) you want and add it to your collection basket, just as if you were shopping online.  You will then go to the collection basket to retrieve your items/images when you are done.  It will explain all the restrictions required for you to use the image.  Basically, all we ask is that somewhere in the caption you write HVCB and the photographer’s name.

Q.  We are planning a Hawaii night in February.  Do you offer any door prizes or giveaways we can order?
A.  We do have things available but mostly in the form of print and educational materials.  We do have a great 10 minute video you can show either before, during or after your Hawaii night event.  If you would like to order any of these materials please go to agents.gohawaii.com and click on the “sales tools materials” section.  There will be an order form you can use to order the materials you would like.  As far as amenities our budget is somewhat limited on that.  If it is something you really need you can try contacting us at hds@hvcb.org.

Q.  I have a family who wants to go to Hawaii.  They have been there before and want to stay at a certain hotel.  I could not locate the hotel on my normal site.  Is there a site on gohawaii.com that allows us to search for a particular hotel?
A.  The best way to find that particular hotel would be to go to our consumer site gohawaii.com and do a search for what part of the words you know.  You can also do a search by the island if you know what island it is on.  You will then be able to choose where to stay and it will provide you a listing of all the accommodations on that island by type, for example all bed and breakfasts or all the vacation rentals.  You can also sort by hotels and resorts.

Q.  How do you sign up for leads?
A.  On our consumer site, gohawaii.com, there are a few places where the consumer can request more information about Hawaii or request materials.  When they do that they will be brought to a page that will ask them for their name and address.  Based their zip code, we will provide them with 2-3 Hawaii specialists in their area.  In order to be apart of that listing all you have to do is go to agents.gohawaii.com, take the Ke Kula O Hawaii course and successfully complete the exam.  Once you complete the exam we will automatically integrate you into that list of referred agents

Q.  Are there any plans to add videos that we can refer to our clients to via Internet rather than via DVD?
A.  Oh yes! We actually already have them, and in fact we just received an award for it yesterday.  You will notice at the top of the site, gohawaii.com, there is a banner that says “Stories of Hawaii.” If you click on this you will be able to view the videos and you are even able to save the links to embed them on your website or to save them to your computer.  They are really great videos! They are short, 3 minute videos that talk about what to do on the islands from a local perspective.  We urge you to take a look at these and to start using them for your Hawaii marketing.

Q.  Is tourism down in Hawaii? I went to book my clients to a hotel and was surprised to find it booked.
A.  It varies depending on the property, the island and the time of year.  New Years was pretty busy for us and we also have a Media Convention that comes in and takes up a lot of room.  If you look at the business economic development tourism numbers for Hawaii you will see that our visitor’s arrivals are down but it is not a dramatic amount like what we saw in 2001 post 9/11. 

Q.  Are there any FAM trips available to Hawaii?
A.  Thanks for that great question.  This is what Mahalo month is for.  If you go to agents.gohawaii.com and sign in or create a profile, you will see a banner that says “Discover the Sights…” Click on that and you will then see a press release that will talk about Mahalo month and will take you to the website mahalomonth.com.  There you can register to get some fantastic deals to come to Hawaii.  They provide deals from your rooms to your activities and as you all know air to Hawaii is going down everyday.  Basically a mini FAM trip!