Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 9, 1 September 1993 — Reshaping the visitor industry [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Reshaping the visitor industry

Hawaiian takes inside track in effort to Hawaiianize industry

by Patrick Johnston For George Kanahele, there are two ways Hawaiians ean make tourism work for the benefit of themselves and their culture: one is to stand on the outside and beat it into submission, the other to work from within and try to eonvince the industry that it is in their and Hawai'i's best interest not to misuse the culture. He has chosen the latter. For over a decade Kanahele has been at the forefront of a movement to "Hawaiianize" the visitor industry, a movement that he hopes will empower Hawaiians to take, if not financial, spiritual control of the industry. "The way an indigenous person gains some control in the absence of ownership," he explains, "is by doing what we're doing: asserting the culture, affirming the eulture, ... getting into the heads of owners and instilling values that are close to the culture. All people are value-driven. This way you ean effect decisions and gain spiritual ownership." His work is centered around the Waiaha Foundation, a research group he helped set up in 1981 to study Hawaiian values and disseminate findings. The flagship of Kanaheie's approach is the Kā'anapali Beach Hotel on Maui. The Kā'anapali has been called the most "Hawaiian" hotel in the state, and represents the eulmi-

nation of years of effort and training on the part of the Waiaha Foundation and hotel management, in particular general manager Mike White, to incorporate Hawaiian ways, not only into the layout of the hotel but also the minds of managers and employees. Hotel Hawaiiana includes an annual employee lū'au and song contest, May Day pageant, adopt-

ed hālau hula, Hawaiian culture workshops for employees, a Hawaiiana library, on-site Hawaiian language classes, staff internship with the Bishop Museum and kuhina (goodwill "ambassadors") that provide professional expertise on Hawaiian culture for guests and employees. Since it began its program in 1986 the hotel has one of the highest occupancy rates of any hotel in the area and is one of the most profitable in the U.S. Staff absenteeism and sick leave abuse

is very low and employee safety ratings commendably high. "It shows that you ean operate a hotel and be sensitive to the eulture," says Kanahele. In the past few years a number of other hotels have begun similar programs, part of a movement Kanahele believes is helping hotels rethink the way are managed. "Our hotels are managed in a way that bothers people," says Kanahele. "We have to change the mindset of management." American-style management, Kanahele argues, functions in an intimidating, maeho way whieh reflects a value system opposite that found in Hawaiian culture. As a possible solution he advocates, and in a few cases has eonducted, training for all mainland managers in Hawaiian culture. Kanahele has even recommended licensing. "What you need in this whole process of sensitizing management is commitment or eomplianee. Licensing is a way of getting eomplianee." Hotels and politicians have listened but argue that cost and scheduling make his proposals unrealistic. However, with the tourist industry on a downswing, trying to convince industry leaders to take a more serious look at the Hawaiian culture has become a mueh easier task. Nobody has turned around and started to

advocate licensing but many in the visitor industry have begun to realize that in order to stay eompetitive in the world tourist market they will have to take a serious look at Hawaiian culture and how they are using - or misusing - it. "It's a wonderful window of opportunity. It's a bad time eeonomically but a good time for us. Our message will save the industry and empower Hawaiians to take more control." Kanahele understands that using culture as a means to fulfill eeonomie goals upsets a lot of Hawaiians, but he believes it's the only way to get people running the industry to listen. "In order to get through to business people you have to speak to them in their own language. Economics is a way of talking that is comfortable for them." Kanahele has developed a

Hawaiian assets assessment that judges a hotel on how accurately and fully it is using Hawaiian culture. Items it considers include the hotel name, the use of Hawaiian words in the hotel, and how it incorporates the history of the property. A score is given at the end of the assessment. "Assets is one of these words business people will understand. ... It's another way of opening the door. We want to get into the heads of people making decisions long enough so they'll sit down and listen." A problem that Kanahele and arguably the whole industry face is that relatively few Hawaiians are employed in the tourist business. Kanahele estimates that only 10 percent to 15 percent of tourism employees are Hawaiian and far fewer in the high managenal positions. This he attributes continued on page 16

"ln order to get through to people in business you have to speak to them in their own language." George Kanahele

Kanahele: Changing the mindset of management.

Hawaiians offer alternatives to mainstream tourism

continued from page 4 Council member and OHA trustee Moanike'ala Akaka, "There should be a group of Hawaiians that advise the HVB and hotel management on sensitizing the industry. Also right now we have a glut of upscale hotels. We should have more community control." Akaka sees what has happened in the industry as form of cultural

genocide and that tourists should know about it. "The culture and land have been exploited. ... There are problems in this part of the world and it's important that tourists know and are informed about them." In response to the environmental destruction some in the industry and environmentalists suggest a shift toward ecotourism, tourist activities with an eye for the

environment. (See story page 5.) Hyatt Resorts Hawai'i has established programs to preserve endangered animals and offers small-group horseback tours in the Waimea Canyon on Kaua'i. The Nature Conservancy of Hawai'i leads hikes for members to their preserves on O'ahu and neighbor islands. Others see the solution in de-

emphasizing tourism altogether and putting more weight on eom-munity-based eeonomie development. On Moloka'i and Kaua'i, leaders are actively involved in trying to provide alternative jobs through CBED agriculture and aquaculture projects in an attempt to diversify the economy and make residents more selfsufficient. "It's not good to put all your eggs in one basket," says Moloka'i DBEDT specialist John Sabas. "We've got our hands in a lot of stuff for a little island." Throughout the tourism debate most agree that, while the industry may have helped Hawai'i prosper, the biggest losers have

been the Hawaiians, their land, and their culture, and everyone may eventually lose if Hawaiian culture is allowed to drift into obscurity and the environment continues to be a secondary eoncern. What direction tourism ultimately goes largely depends on who gains control of the industry: the present owners, generally non-Hawaiian operators who may see no value in significantly altering the status quo, or native Hawaiians who, through the strength of their own activism and the power of their culture to attract visitors, acquire a kind of spiritual hold on the industry and use that to mold it to their liking.