The high price of image

It's no surprise to Hawaii's hospitality community that its image of being a high-class, high-price place to meet is still going strong. According to this article in Pacific Journal News, a new survey of 1,200 planners found that most see the Aloha state as a top place to vacation and rank the Hawaii Convention Center at the top of 40 destinations included in the study, "But they ranked the state 15th as a venue for business conventions, citing their perception of higher room taxes, food and beverage costs and airfares," says the article. They ranked it 33rd in the gettting-value-for-their-money category.

Says Frank Haas, HTA's director of marketing, "It is a perception problem and not a reality problem. So we can change that."

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