Vericella: At Hawaii's Helm

<B> Vericella: At Hawaii's Helm</B>

<i>The Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau's new president and CEO, Tony Vericella, brings a rich mix of local travel industry experience to his position. Before taking the HVCB's top spot last fall, Vericella worked as vice president of sales and market planning for Hawaiian Airlines, headed the Hawaii division of American Express Travel Related Service and served as vice president and general manager Asia/Pacific for Budget Rent A Car. On the mainland, he held positions at Continental and Western Airlines. Vericella recently talked with BTN about the state of Hawaii's meetings market, the new convention center opening in June and some of the issues affecting planners this year.</i>

BTN: How has Hawaii performed as a group destination during the past year?

Vericella: In terms of attendee numbers, corporate meetings were up 13.6 percent in 1997 over 1996, conventions were down 6 percent and incentive travel has been flat.

BTN: Some people in the industry are concerned that meetings in Hawaii might be too expensive because of the cost of shipping equipment over. Is anything being done about this?

Vericella: There are a lot of costs involved in doing a show or major function and shipping only represents about 11 percent. It is true that shipping across the ocean is more expensive than between two mainland cities, but the overall cost of putting on a show in Hawaii is less expensive than in many U.S. cities. Hawaii is extremely competitive. We are, however, working with airlines and ocean shippers to come up with ways to reduce rates--by shipping in larger containers, for example.

BTN: What sort of impact will the new convention center have on the meetings market?

Vericella: The center will affect larger conventions and association meetings the most. Even though we've always been a destination that handled conventions and association meetings, we were no longer able to accommodate many of them as they grew larger. That's why we built the convention center. Although we have facilities for corporate incentives already, having the center will focus more attention on the overall market and help us grow each of its components--association, incentive and corporate meetings. It will take a longer time to grow the association meeting market because it requires five to seven years lead time, but we began marketing a year and a half ago, so we have a start.

BTN: What measures is the Hawaiian meetings and conventions industry taking to make sure that the Neighbor Islands also benefit from the new convention center?

Vericella: The Neighbor Islands actively are involved in all of our efforts to attract potential users of the center by their ability to offer pre- and post-event packages. We also will sell to planners and delegates in the post-arrival mode, promoting the outer islands to delegates once they are already here through displays and booths in the center.

BTN: We've heard that you want to create partnerships with suppliers, other destinations and even celebrities to promote Hawaii as a destination.

Vericella: Everyone has to leverage their resources to put across the right messages. Travel is an inclusive industry and we can get together with a lot of different partners. We want to leverage the message of Hawaii with such non-traditional suppliers as credit cards, phone cards, department stores and even athletic shoe companies.

For example, we could team up with the West Coast as a dual destination for the European and East Coast markets, as well as for Australian planners who want to have a joint program on the U.S. mainland and in Hawaii.

BTN: How is the state financing the marketing of meetings, conventions and incentives?

Vericella: The total budget for the HVCB is not where it needs to be to be globally competitive. We feel the HVCB needs $60 million in dedicated funds from the state government. That is what we would start out with, and then we could work from there through cooperative efforts to expand our resources.

In the current fiscal year--July 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998--we have received only $26,050,000 in state aid. In the next fiscal year, we're budgeted for $25,350,00.

BTN: With the opening of the new convention center, which other destinations do you see as Hawaii's main competition in the meetings business?

Vericella: As far as the corporate meetings and incentives business goes, there's no particular city we're competing with. Every city offers something unique and different. When you book our center, however, you get the whole state, not just a single city.

BTN: What is the biggest challenge ahead for Hawaii as a meetings destination and how do you expect to face it?

Vericella: Although there are challenges, we still have the highest satisfaction rate of any destination, and that's why groups keep coming back again and again. Our product will continue to evolve and develop in order to create a variety and a diverse set of experiences. And our efforts will be helped by the new convention center.