Jetsettersblog

The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has launched a $4.5 million marketing campaign to promote reduced prices for Hawaii vacations versus last year. Under the theme Discover More of Hawaii for Less than You Imagined, the bureau’s multimedia campaign directs consumers to a new HVCB website, www.GoHawaii.com/Value, which lists travel packages to Hawaii at deeply discounted prices. The campaign is being funded with support from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and travel industry partners.

The campaign complements the HVCB’s ongoing branding strategy and is designed to generate vacation bookings immediately through first quarter 2009. It further advances the message launched earlier this summer about Hawaii’s enhanced affordability as a destination. The HVCB’s marketing strategy is fueled by research showing travelers in the current economic environment are seeking incredible experiences that are unique to the destination but at a great value.

 To that end, the HVCB’s new website will serve as a free market platform listing the various Hawaii vacation packages offered to consumers in North America. The website gives package providers the flexibility to amend their offers in response to competition, availability and demand.

Travel wholesalers taking part in the package offerings are Pleasant Holidays, Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, All About Hawaii, Blue Sky Tours, LibGo Travel, Travel Impressions, Classic Vacations, MLT Vacations, Funjet Vacations, United Vacations and American Airlines Vacations.

In conjunction with the new campaign, the HVCB is adding increased marketing emphasis in eight top U.S. markets — Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Chicago and New York City — which are identified through market research as offering the greatest potential for vacation bookings. The HVCB launched print advertising, online advertising and media publicity in the targeted cities, promoting the Hawaii packages and steering consumers to the website.

In addition, HVCB executives are meeting with key news media in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C., this week. Adding to the HVCB’s optimism are the results of the TNS American Traveler Study released in early September. More than 8,000 respondents were surveyed nationally, and Hawaii received the highest scores of all destinations for visitor satisfaction among travelers who had taken vacations within the past three years.

 In addition, Hawaii scored highest among all destinations for growth potential as to where survey respondents want to vacation in the coming three years.

For more information, call 800-464-2924 or visit www.gohawaii.com/value

ResortQuest Hawaii has “beefed up” its Sweet Suite Golf for Two package at the ResortQuest Shores at Waikoloa and the ResortQuest Waikoloa Colony Villas on the Big Island to include a $50 gift card to Ruth’s Chris Steak House.

The package also includes two rounds of golf with shared cart at Waikoloa Resort’s Beach or Kings Course (additional rounds of golf may be purchased at $100 per person) and an Aloha Book of island discounts and offers.

 Through Dec. 21, nightly package room rates start at $235 for a one-bedroom suite at the ResortQuest Shores at Waikoloa and $248 for a one-bedroom villa at the ResortQuest Waikoloa Colony Villas. A three-night minimum stay required, and clients receive an additional discount when booking four or more nights.

 For more information, call 866-774-2924 or visit www.resortquesthawaii.com

AARP Services Inc. and Grandtravel have announced a new relationship that will provide AARP members with vacations, discounts and experiences that enrich the special bond between grandparents and their grandchildren. Grandtravel is a premier provider of luxury vacations for grandparents and grandchildren and is committed to enriching multigenerational bonds through hands-on adventures.

Under the agreement, AARP members will receive a $200 per person discount off Grandtravel ’s escorted tour vacations, which, in 2009, include trips to Alaska, Italy, London/Paris, New Zealand and Washington, D.C./Williamsburg. Grandtravel offers smaller, intimate group travel experiences. Activity directors, who are certified teachers, accompany each group, enhancing the educational component for children.

For more information, call 800-247-7651 or visit www.grandtrvl.com/aarp

The Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay and the Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele are offering a five-night Ladies Who Luxe girlfriend getaway package. Included are roundtrip inter-island transportation from Oahu to Lanai on a private jet (or on a private yacht from Maui); private island transportation upon arrival and departure; a personal “It Girl” concierge; two Getaway Survival Kits with a Pink Vodka and martini set, tabloid publications, sunscreen, a $500 shopping pass to Lanai City’s retailers and a Benefit’s BadGal Kit; a daily private cabana; a private, surfside yoga session; a private Spa After Hours Experience; a private surf or stand-up paddleboard lesson; a private golf or tennis lesson; a private gourmet cooking class with the executive chef; a fully stocked refrigerator; daily breakfast; a five-course dinner and wine pairing prepared by the executive chef; and two certificates for a future two-night stay for two.

The package starts at $56,000 per room, double, and is valid through Dec. 18. The Four Seasons Resorts Lanai also are offering the four-night Simply Chic girlfriend getaway package, featuring two Getaway Survival Kits, two 50-minute spa treatments and daily breakfast from $3,200 per room, double, through Dec. 18.

For more information, call 800-321-4666 or visit www.fourseasons.com/lanai

Choice Hotels International, Inc. has announced a new, permanent U.S. Armed Services program as part of its Choice Privileges rewards program. Effective immediately, active duty or reserve military members, retired military, National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard, and eligible spouses and dependents can join the Choice Privileges rewards program at the Elite Gold level, a level that normally requires stays totaling 10 hotel nights per year. As part of the new program, members receive a 10 percent point bonus on qualifying stays at more than 5,000 locations across the 10 Choice Hotels brands, Elite customer service and reservations phone numbers, and Elite member offers.

For more information, visit www.choiceprivileges.com/armedservices

Clients will save up to 35 percent when they book a 2009 winter getaway with Spirit Vacations to a Couples Resort in Jamaica. Clients enjoy free value-added inclusions such as off-site excursions, scuba diving, glass-bottom boat tours and more. Sample deals to the all-inclusive Couples Resorts with Spirit Vacations include Couples Tower Isle, where guests receive 35 percent off all-inclusive rates in a deluxe garden room on Monday departures, March 16 through 30. A three-night stay is priced at $991 from Fort Lauderdale; $1,009 from Orlando or Tampa; and $1,048 from Atlanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Myrtle Beach, New York/LaGuardia or Washington, D.C./Reagan National.

Couples Negril guests will get 25 percent off in a deluxe garden room on Monday departures, Jan. 5 through Feb. 9 and Feb 23 through March 30, on three-night stays of $1,016 from Ft. Lauderdale; $1,034 from Orlando or Tampa; $1,073 from Atlanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Myrtle Beach, New York/LaGuardia or Washington, D.C./Reagan National.

At Couples Sans Souci, guests will receive 25 percent off an ocean suite on Monday departures, Jan. 5 through Feb. 9 and Feb. 23 through March 30, on three-night stays: $1,046 from Ft. Lauderdale; $1,064 from Orlando or Tampa; $1,099 from Atlanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Myrtle Beach, New York/LaGuardia or Washington, D.C./Reagan National. At Couples Swept Away, guests will receive 20 percent off a garden suite on Monday departures, Jan. 5 through Feb. 9 and Feb. 23 through March 30, on three-night stays: $1,098 from Ft. Lauderdale; $1,116 from Orlando or Tampa; $1,155 from Atlanta, Atlantic City, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Myrtle Beach, New York/LaGuardia or Washington, D.C./Reagan National.

Spirit Vacations offers complete vacation packages to destinations throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, Central and South America, Mexico and the United States.

Parker Ranch on Hawaii’s Big Island has unveiled a new Parker Ranch Cattle Country tour and has revived its Parker Ranch Hunt Club, which offers guided hunts for a variety of game species. The four-hour Cattle Country tour explores the Ranch’s 160-plus-year heritage through visits to historic and operational sites not generally open to the public.

 No more than six guests on each tour travel in an air-conditioned ranch vehicle, while the guide tells stories of Hawaii’s royal-blooded ranching dynasty.

The tour includes a brief visit to the two Parker Ranch historic homes in Waimea, as well as at still utilized cowboy stations and the Parker family burial plot. The Cattle Country tour is priced at $135 per person and includes picnic lunch and beverage. A shorter version, the Mana Road tour, costs $50 per person and includes a snack and a beverage.

The Parker Ranch Hunt Club includes hunting for Polynesian boars, Spanish ibex goats and wild Vancouver bulls. The ranch’s 12 species of upland game birds include kalij, blue and ring-neck pheasant, erkels, black and gray francolin, chukar partridge, valley and Japanese quail, Rio Grande turkey, sand grouse and lace neck doves. All hunting adventures include registered gun and appropriate ammunition, meat handling, caping, ranch transportation, and beverages and snacks.

Mounting taxidermy can be arranged by request. The Ranch sells preserve hunting licenses for those without a Hawaii license. There is no requirement for safety card or other licenses to obtain a preserve hunting license.

Prices for game hunts range from $800 for boar hunts to $2,250 for Vancouver bull hunts. Prices for bird hunts range from $475 for a half-day hunt to $1,300 for a two and one-half day Rio Grande turkey hunt. Upland bird hunting is allowed October through February, while turkey hunting is permitted from March 1 until April 15.

 For more information, call 877-885-7999, email activities@parkerranch.com or visit www.parkerranch.com

The Hotel Hana-Maui and Honua Spa is offering fall rates. The Hana Fall Special Getaway and the Explore Hana specials, valid through Dec. 23, offer savings across all room categories, starting at $200 per day, which includes a bonus daily resort credit that can be used for dining at any of the resort restaurants, including Ka’uiki, or the Hana Ranch Restaurant and Paniolo Bar; treatments at the Honua Spa; horseback riding tours along the coast; and purchases at the hotel gift shop.

Rates for the hotel’s most popular room category, the Sea Ranch Cottages, start at $495 per night (a savings of $155 per night), plus a $150 room credit for a total savings of $305 each night of a couples’ stay. The Bay Cottage Jr. Suite is $395 per night (a savings of $100), plus a $100 credit, for a total savings of $200 per night.

In addition, guests booking three nights receive a fourth night free with the Explore Hana special available in all room categories. In addition to one free night, guests receive the daily resort credit of $100 or $150 per day.

 Discounted rates start at $488 per night for the Sea Ranch Cottages to $844 for the One Bedroom Oceanfront Suite with hot tub. (Regular rates range from $650 to $1,125.)

For more information, call 800-321-4262, email reservations@hotelhanamaui.com or visit www.hotelhanamaui.com

OutriggerHawaii.com has launched new features that focus on Hawaii’s culture and local color. Included are new stories and video podcasts, a real-time blog and a calendar of island events. In the website’s new “Learn to Surf” video, surf instructor Mike Kaihe teaches a beginner how to catch his first wave. To complement this video vignette, the website provides information on the best surf spots, local surfboard shapers and stories of real people who love to surf. Other recent additions to OutriggerHawaii.com include a comprehensive calendar of statewide events and an “In the News” section that highlights news about Hawaii.

A new, real-time blog written by the site’s editor, Kim Steutermann Rogers, covers a wide range of topics and issues relevant to Hawaii.

Throughout the rest of the year, OutriggerHawaii.com will feature a suite of stories in celebration of the International Year of the Reef.

 New content will highlight reef voluntourism opportunities, protection and conservation tips, and statewide programs and events. The site also hosts a Hawaii Reef Etiquette public service announcement by underwater filmmaker and environmental conservationist Ziggy Livnat. The PSA, narrated by fish, shares with viewers key do’s and don’ts when interacting with marine life and the coral reefs.

 For more information, visit www.outriggerhawaii.com

American Express Travel is partnering with Royal Caribbean International for the unveiling of the final “neighborhood” aboard RCI’s Oasis of the Seas, which the cruise line will launch in November 2009. The cruise ship’s design features “neighborhoods,” which will provide an array of experiences to cater to guests’ personal style, preferences or moods. The unveiling of the final neighborhood, available exclusively to American Express cardmembers, customers and travel agents, will take place Oct. 21 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, via a live WebEx webcast.

The webcast will be co-hosted by Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, and Lynne Biggar, senior vice president and general manager of the American Express Consumer Travel Network. Oasis of the Seas’ neighborhoods already announced include Central Park, Boardwalk, Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, and the Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center.

 For more information, call 800-297-2977 or visit www.americanexpress.com/travel