Mahalo to All Who Participated in Our Annual Earth Day Beach Cleanup!
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Volume XIX No. 05 May 2018 Mahalo to all who participated in our annual Earth Day Beach cleanup! We saw a fantastic turnout of over two hundred volunteers! April 21st greeted the Waikīkī Ohana Workforce with a gorgeous morning— a perfect day to get our hands dirty and our beaches clean! A huge mahalo to the Hilton Hawaiian Village who provided the workforce with a delicious continental breakfast, Polynesian Adventure Tours who shuttled us to our destinations in their comfortable motor coaches, and Hyatt Regency who provided validated parking! Volunteers combed the beach, bushes and crevices and retrieved hundreds of small trash and cigarette butts. Mahalo again for everyone’s dedication. See you next quarter! Inside this issue: 1 Mahalo to all who participated in our annual Earth Day Beach cleanup! Sheraton Princess Ka‘iulani celebrates Mother’s Day at Pīkake Terrace 2 WIA’s community and business leaders publicly support Bill 6 Duke’s Lane Market & Eatery – Bakery, BASALT Mother’s Day Specials, and 3 Preserving and restoring Waikīkī Beach Nightly entertainment on the patio 4 39th Annual Pan Pacific Festival announces 2018 event dates Hilton Waikīkī Beach on Kūhiō – Military Appreciation Month, Mother’s Day 5 PacRim Marketing and PRTech re-launch Chinese website about Hawai‘i Brunch Buffet, Summer Brunch Series, ongoing events 6 The perfect Mother’s Day weekend at Moana Surfrider The Surfjack presents: May at the Swim Club 7 Tomo Kuriyama named General Manager of The Royal Hawaiian bills Hawai‘i 7 Shingo Katsura appointed Chef de Cuisine at Azure Restaurant after 100 Sails Restaurant & Bar—May specials Shaymus Alwin promoted at The Royal Hawaiian Waikīkī Beach Walk – May Entertainment & Activities 8 Hilton Hawaii announces regional senior sales manager Ala Moana Center – Upcoming shows for May 8 Waikīkī Hula Show at the Kūhiō Beach Hula Mound T Galleria by DFS, Hawai‘i Golden Week Promotions Waikīkī Beach Walk – Nā Mele no nā Pua Attachments The MODERN Honolulu hosts pro surfer photographer Zak Noyle at May 10 Royal Hawaiian Center—Michelin Star Dning at Tim Ho Wan and more ‘Changing of the Tides’ photo contest Celebrate mom in truly royal style at The Royal Hawaiian Kani Ka Pila Grille – May events Sky Waikīkī – Mother’s Day dinner Uncle Clay’s House of Pure Aloha now open at Lāna‘i at Ala Moana Center Il Lupino Trattoria & Wine Bar – Mother’s Day specials Best parking in Waikīkī at Waikīkī Business Plaza and the Waikīkī Shopping Plaza Kai Market offers an unforgettable Mother’s Day buffet at Sheraton Waikīkī Pan Pacific Festival event dates and fact sheet Top of Waikiki – Mother’s Day ala carte specials Waikīkī Community Center – May/June newsletter WOLFGANGS Steakhouse – Happy Mother’s Day . and MORE WIA’s Community and Business Leaders Publicly Support Bill 6 A heartfelt mahalo to our dedicated members who testified in support of Bill 6 (2018) that would prohibit mobile kiosks in Waikīkī. Powerful cases were presented by WIA’s community and business leaders, including the Waikīkī Neighborhood Board, Alohilani Resort, ABC Stores, Retail Merchants of Hawaiʻi, Outrigger Hotels, Embassy Suites, Royal Hawaiian Center, and Hawai'i Lodging & Tourism Association. Mahalo to all others who spoke and gave written testimony as well! Your dedication to the welfare of Waikīkī’s community and businesses are highly visible and greatly appreciated. Bill 6 passed its second reading at the Committee of Public Health, Safety, and Economic Development on March 22nd, and at its reading to the City Council on March 28th. As of April 25th it is referred to the Committee on Budget. Rob Robinson (Highgate Hotels) testifies to the Committee of Public Health, Safety, and Economic Development. Bob WIA’s President Rick Egged testifies to the City Finley (Waikīkī Neighborhood Board), Sam Shenkus (Royal Council at Honolulu Hale. Hawaiian Center) seated in back, and Waikiki resident Dave Moscowitz also provided testimony, among others. Hawaiian Diacritical Marks Waikīkī Improvement Association recognizes the use of diacritical marks (i.e., glottal stop (‘), macron (ā) in place names of Hawai‘i, such as Waikīkī and Kalākaua Avenue and will include them whenever possible. We also respect the individual use (or not) of these markings for names of organizations and businesses. There will also be times when we may not have a chance to add or change the markings in all of the articles submitted and when that happens, e kala mai. Page 2, May 2018 Page 2 Waikīkī Wikiwiki Wire Preserving and Restoring Waikīkī Beach WIA played a key role in establishing the Waikiki Beach Special Improvement District. In 2015, WBSIDA was created with the mission to preserve and restore Waikīkī Beach, and provide management for future beach revitalization. On April 25th last week, WBSIDA’s board of directors approved its budget for 2018-2019— and its half of the multi-million dollar project cost-share to rebuild the Royal Hawaiian Groin (pictured right). The other half will be funded by the DLNR. This century-old stone wall is in imminent danger of collapsing, and is all that keeps the beach from the Royal Hawaiian to the Kūhiō Beach Basins from being completely washed away. The budget approval also includes a sand bag groin project for Kūhiō Beach that would reduce erosion there, and additional beach maintenance that includes sand movement and safety projects. The budget also includes a contribution to the Ala Wai Watershed Collaboration. The AWWC are undertaking efforts to improve the water quality and safety of the Ala Wai Watershed. As Waikīkī and it’s beaches are a direct benefactor of these efforts, WBSIDA will support the collaboration and play a major role in it’s management and development. Despite the projects and expenses approved for the year, the WBSIDA board has actually approved a lower assessment rate per property than the previous year. Members will enjoy a rate reduction from 7.21 cents to 6.97 cents per $1000 assessed property value. WBSIDA’s annual meeting is scheduled for May 8, 2018. Live webcam image of Waikīkī Beach taken May 1, 2018 Page 3, May 2018 Page 3 Waikīkī Wikiwiki Wire 39th Annual Pan-Pacific Festival Announces 2018 Event Dates Festival Celebrates Cultures and Traditions from Pacific-Rim Countries 39th annual Pan-Pacific Festival, a celebration of cultural traditions of Hawai‘i, the Pacific Rim and around the world, will run from June 8 to 10 at various locations throughout Honolulu. Since its first celebration, the Pan-Pacific Festival has evolved into an international festival bringing various foods, customs, and people together and creating a more global community through the sharing and celebration of cultures. The three-day festival kicks off with a Ho‘olaule‘a (block party) complete with live entertainment on multiple stages, food, crafts and more. The celebration continues with Performing Arts Showcases, featuring cultural performances and demonstrations. The 18th Annual Pan-Pacific Hula Festival will take place daily on Waikīkī Beach featuring more than a dozen hula hālau (schools), most of them from Japan. The Punahele Party on Saturday night will feature Maunalua, a multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winning band, that will perform live with hālau at this event. The festival concludes with a colorful parade of lively costumes and performances by local and national high school bands and various ethnic groups marching along Kalākaua Avenue in Waikiki. What: 39th Annual Pan-Pacific Festival Where: Various locations throughout Honolulu When: Friday, June 8 through Sunday, June 10, 2018 Cost: All events are free and open to the public Information: For more information, visit www.pan-pacific-festival.com Details: Schedule subject to change. Check website or Facebook in late-May for updates. For more details, refer to fact sheet in attachments section, Waikīkī Wikiwiki Wire - Newsletter Deadline The WIA newsletter is published on the first Friday of the month. Submission deadline: Waikiki-related news and information submitted by members (or their PR agencies) for the newsletter should be received no later than 5 pm Wednesday prior to the newsletter that is published and distributed on the first Friday of each month. Articles received after the deadline will be considered for inclusion in the next issue. Photos: Photos which accompany stories are always welcome and, for best results, should be attached to the email as a separate jpeg - maximum 1 MB each image. PDFs: Single page PDFs are also welcome but they must look like flyers and not press releases (so … do not include the dateline, city, media contact information, boilerplate, etc.). Press releases: Word or PDF press releases will be edited to fit the one page format or will be returned to you for editing / reformatting. Your kokua is appreciated. Mahalo. Page 4, May 2018 Page 4 Waikīkī Wikiwiki Wire PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech re-launch Chinese website about Hawaii PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech have redesigned their Chinese-language MyHawaii website, and are hosting it on a server in China to increase loading speed and content quality. They also have re-branded it using the name, HAISHA (Having Fun in Hawaii), to resonate with Chinese travelers and attract them to Hawaii. The re-launch was facilitated in part by Tokyo-based Vector, Inc., one of the largest independent media communications firms in the Asia-Pacific region, which acquired PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech in 2017. Through its Shanghai office, Vector helped secure Chinese government approvals and licensing required to use Alibaba Cloud Web Hosting Services. The MyHawaii URL www.myhawaii.cn is still used to maintain the website’s following, which has grown over the past six years since the site’s initial launched. The HAISHA Chinese-language website features stories and information about Hawaii, including daily news, cultural and outdoor activities, “must-see” attractions, retail, dining, hotels, travel planning and tips.