PACIFIC BASIN ECONOMIC COUNCIL
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Legislature told, promote Hawaii as business destination Pacific Business News Tuesday, January 14, 2003 The new director of the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism has told the Hawaii Legislature it's time to send a message to the world that Hawaii is a good place to do business. "Hawaii has a great brand — you don't have to spend a single cent more to promote this place as a great vacation spot," Ted Liu told a Monday hearing of the House International Affairs Committee. "But we need to look beyond that." The new head of the Pacific Basin Economic Council told lawmakers they should divert funds from tourism promotion if necessary to promote the state as a good location to do business. Dalton Tanonaka said Hawaii is a perfect meeting place for East and West business interests but isn't yet taken seriously by people who think of Hawaii as a place to go for sun and surf. "Our headquarters in Honolulu is fighting relocation because Hawaii has no business image," Tanonaka said. "We need to market Hawaii as a business destination if we want business visitors to come. And if that means taking money from the leisure travel budget, that's what you have to do." Honolulu business people who routinely deal with people on the mainland say they are constantly kidded about their location, with the implication that work isn't getting done in a place as nice as this. Tanonaka said the central location of Honolulu was useful to PBEC, whose members come from all sides of the Pacific Rim, while Liu said the state hasn't realized its full potential as a gathering place for conferences. "Hawaii has the potential to become either 'the Crossroads of the Pacific' or 'the Middle of Nowhere,'" Liu said.