Waikiki Makes Improvements To Meetings Landscape

<B>Waikiki Makes Improvements To Meetings Landscape</B>

By Judy Jacobs

Waikiki is in the midst of a major makeover that will take Hawaii's oldest resort to a new level. From a newly landscaped Kuhio Beach to a major expansion at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the completed improvements and those to come will help Waikiki compete more successfully for the meetings, conferences and incentives market.

"The revitalization means a great deal for the MCI business, because everyone who hasn't been here for a few years is surprised at how good it looks," said Les Enderton, executive director of the Oahu Visitors Bureau. "Oahu is a beautiful place to do business. We have all the infrastructure in place, with the convention center and the hotels being equipped to handle the MCI market."

While Waikiki is a better place than it has been in recent years, it is expected to get even better. "We're one-tenth of the way through a revitalization effort that will last 20 to 30 years," said Peter Apo, director of the office of Waikiki development of the city and county of Honolulu. "There's been $1 billion worth of new investment in the past four or five years."

Although the work on Waikiki is just beginning, the effects already are being felt. Last fall, Kuhio Beach, Waikiki's main stretch of sand, reopened after a $12.5 million upgrade with new sidewalk landscaping, flowing fountains and flowering bushes lining the beach. Another $3 million has been set aside to continue the landscaping.

Kalakaua Avenue, Waikiki's major thoroughfare, also has been improved.

Meanwhile, Hawaii in March launched the Waikiki business improvement district, the first effort of its type in the state. Modeled after similar districts in Times Square, New York, the entity is the long-time dream of the Waikiki Improvement Association, a 250-member nonprofit organization that lobbies the state and city for capital improvements and tax incentives.

The initial efforts of the new business improvement district are to keep Waikiki clean and safe. The sidewalks have been washed with power hoses and an Aloha Patrol of private security officers has been established to answer questions and provide assistance to visitors, while at the same time handling minor sidewalk offenses.

Of equal importance to the improvements of the public areas of Waikiki are those being made by the private sector, especially Hilton Hawaiian Village. The opening of the 453-room Kalia Tower this month will make the Hilton Hawaiian Beach Resort & Spa the largest hotel in the United States, outside of Las Vegas. The Hilton will have a total of 2,998 rooms and a series of new facilities, ranging from an Executive Conference Center to a spa and wellness center.

Each Kalia Tower room will include a work space, two phone lines, voicemail and dataports. The top four floors will be executive club floors. The 4,600-sq.-ft. Executive Conference Center, which will open this summer, was created for smaller meetings. It will offer seven rooms, including a boardroom and one room accommodating up to 100 attendees, and have its own meeting concierge to handle any special requests or problems that might arise.

To further aid groups, as well as individual corporate travelers, Xerox recently opened a 24-hour full-service business center, which incorporates a U.S. Post Office and provides shipping and package delivery services, copying, e-mail access, computer use and equipment rental.

The addition of the Kalia Tower rooms allows the Hilton to offer more meetings options than in the past. "We now can have two 500- to 800-room meetings simultaneously or one meeting for 1,600 rooms that can have as many as 3,200 people," said Peter Schall, the hotel's managing director.

Several other Kalia Tower facilities also will make the hotel more appealing to the MCI market: Mandara Spa, which operates spas both in the United States and around the world, will open its U.S. flagship facility this summer. It will include 25 treatment rooms, a swimming pool, sauna and steam rooms, fitness center and beauty salon.