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More Than Just A Pretty Beach

Big Island has plenty to offer the wellness industry

by Lisa Huynh
West Hawaii Today
lhuynh@westhawaiitoday.com

Monday, October 9, 2006 8:54 AM HST

From lomi lomi to acupuncture to reiki, Hawaii is home to numerous healing traditions. That concentration of services may be attracting a growing number of tourists looking to unwind.

These rejuvenation seekers, experts believe, are fostering a health and wellness tourism industry in Hawaii -- with the Big Island leading the way.

"Anyone who is in tune with the Big Island knows it's a very spiritual island," said Susan Tanzman, president of Martin's Travels and Tours of Los Angeles. "The biggest mistake made is that the islands are promoted as a beach-vacation-type destination, but they are so much more than that."

In the last three to four years, spa tourism has become one the biggest things in travel, reported researcher Jim Dannemiller, president of Research and Evaluation at SMS Research on Oahu.

Dannemiller, speaking at the First Hawaii Island Conference on Health and Wellness Travel on Thursday, said Hawaii consistently has four to eight spas and resorts ranked among the top 20 in the world by magazines such as Conde Nast Travel.

While those figures represent only the high-end providers of wellness travel, they indicate a broad interest in traveling for health.

"(Hawaii) is very highly rated," said Dannemiller. "(The wellness sector) is a big, big market, but Hawaii has no way currently of identifying travelers who come to the island for such services."

The lack of data is a reflection of the industry's disorganization, Dannemiller pointed out.

Thursday's conference helped launch the Hawaii Island Health and Wellness Travel Association, which was successful in signing up more than 100 members at the event. The association may provide the link needed to create cohesiveness in the industry.

Event organizer Susanne Sims of Healing Hawaii Vacations said the health and wellness industry is more like holistic travel, involving ecotourism, touring sacred sites, local products, organic foods and various health treatments.

In order for the industry to come together, experts said there need to be more networking opportunities, better standards and quality assessments for services and provider licensing.

Kristin McGrath, senior director of sales and marketing for the Big Island Visitors Bureau, said the bureau has always wanted to market wellness but could not do so until recently.

"We have incorporated wellness into our 2007 marketing plan," said McGrath. "We'll be joining the Hawaii Island Health and Wellness Travel Association ... the huge turnout for the conference showed that there was a real need for marketing."

Pauline Sheldon, professor of travel industry management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, offered conference participants a global perspective on Hawaii's success.

After recently returning from the first International Conference on Wellness and Tourism in Spain, Sheldon said she believes Hawaii is at the industry's leading edge. She said the islands have something other destinations do not -- Native Hawaiian culture.

"We need to recognize that the host environment and culture need to be woven into the experiences for them to be truly sustainable," said Sheldon.

Echoing Sheldon's sentiments, the majority of conference panelists attributed Hawaii's success in the burgeoning industry to the native culture.

"There is an active sense of spirit on this island," said Maggie Kelly, Big Island-based travel agent. "Groups who travel here are interested in the culture, the people and the deeper relationships."

Kumu Mahealani Kuamoo-Henry, a Native Hawaiian speaker and teacher, was one of the several conference panelists. Individual practitioners like Kuamoo-Henry made up the majority of the over 300 event participants.

"We need to keep the culture intact, it's what is unique about Hawaii nei," said Kuamoo-Henry. "It's about keeping the culture alive without commercializing it."

Nelson Denman, a healing musician, teacher and land planner, said the Big Island is distinct partly because of the mix of natural elements.

"There's fire, snow, ocean and the earth elements. The snow and fire opposites have a very powerful energy," he said.

Before it can reach its potential, the industry in Hawaii must overcome some barriers to its success.

"The problem is the verbage," said Tanzman. "People are afraid of some of the words (associated with these traditions) because they think it has a religious connotation. They don't understand that spirituality and religion are different things."

Kuamoo-Henry said it is important for the industry to preserve the traditions that make it special.

"The main focus is that we must continue to support the Native Hawaiian practitioners who are here to share their knowledge," she said.

If all of these different needs are met, Marcel Hernandez of Pacific Naturopathic Retreat Center said, there is a market waiting to take advantage of what the island has to offer.

Said Hernandez, "Wellness travel is not a niche market anymore, but a mainstream market."

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE HAWAII ISLAND WELLNESS TRAVEL ASSOCIATION:
EMAIL:  nmi@aloha.net or call (808) 885-2181
Address:  PO Box 6693, Kamuela, HI 96743


Phone (808) 922-1020  Oahu

Email:  nmi@aloha.net

Web:  www.healingvacationsinhawaii.com


"Brainwash yourself before somebody nasty beats you to it."
-Rob Brezsny

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