CONFERENCES Aaron Sala of Cirque du Soleil Hawai’i alongside Outrigger Hospitality Group President and CEO, Jeff Wagoner, speaking at the launch of AHICE Aloha
AHICE says Aloha to Hawai’i
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LEADING HAWAIIAN HOTELS EXECUTIVES GATHERED FOR THE LAUNCH OF AHICE ALOHA IN NOVEMBER. JAMES WELLS REPORTS.
he Aloha Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE) launched in Hawai’i with over 100 delegates at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort on November 29. AHICE Aloha 2023 represents the first time the AHICE brand has entered a market outside of Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia and this launch event was a preview for a much larger conference scheduled to be held in Hawai’i in late November 2024. Some of the key issues discussed on stage included the impact of rising interest rates and debt maturity on transactions in the region as well as access to capital for renovations and development; delays with permitting for development and renovations; capacity for more luxury and ultra-luxury properties in the region focusing on cultural and regenerative tourism; mandates for social housing as well as the potential for a recession that may also lead 30
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to a boom from Asia and Japan. The event attracted leading executives in the Hawai’ian hotels market including Jerry Gibson (President of the Hawai’i Hotel Alliance), Jeff Wagoner (President and CEO of Outrigger Hospitality Group), Paul Gorman (General Manager – Business Development – Luxury Escapes), Kevin Aucello (Principal of Powell & Aucello), Emily Reber Porter (Chief Operating Officer – MacNaughton), Kenneth Kan (Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer for Outrigger Hospitality Group), Mark Bratton (Senior Vice President – Hawai’i – Investment Services Division – Colliers), Teri Orton (General Manager – Honolulu Convention Centre) and Aaron Sala (Director & Creative Cultural Producer – Cirque du Soleil Hawai’i. The conference also featured a special media panel on how hotels can benefit from ‘earned media’ which is coverage that a hotel does not create or pay for itself.
This panel featured a broad range of media representatives including Kam Napier (Editor in Chief at Pacific Business News), Allison Schaefers (Waikiki Bureau Chief at the Honolulu Star Advertiser), Kristina Lockwood (General Manager – KHON2 TV) and Monica Salter (VP Global Communications & Social Responsibility for the Outrigger Hospitality Group). One of the most exciting developments to take place in the Hawai’ian hospitality industry has not been a hotel development or transaction – but the announcement of deal with Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group to secure a new multi-year resident show, exclusive to Hawai’i at the Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel from late 2024. Speaking on a panel chaired by AHICE Convenor James Wilkinson, Aaron Sala, the director and creative cultural producer of Cirque du Soleil Hawai’i shared his vision for
