Visitor numbers in Hawaii still high
Hawaii is coming off a record year in terms of visitor numbers. Business, law enforcement and tourism officials gathered today to discuss ways of keeping those visitors safe.
An island vacation can go sour in a hurry if a visitor is scammed or robbed. These visitor industry, business and law enforcement officials are meeting with one goal in mind - to prevent that from happening. But if it does, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii is there to help the visitor.
"Because they have no support mechanism, infrastructure or people to rely on while they're here as opposed to local residents who do have family and friends that they can go to," says Warren Ferreira, Outrigger Security.
More and more visitors are traveling to the neighbor islands. And there may be a tendency for them to feel safer in a less populated setting.
"It's a blessing to know that people feel very safe in Kauai but at the same time we just want to make sure that, as best as possible, try and do the things that would make you safe at any destination but specifically Kauai," says Susan Kanoho, Kauai Visitors Hawaii.
During the conference, businesses, hotel operators, hotel security personnel were reminded of warnings they need to pass on to visitors. Warren Ferreira, head of security for Outrigger hotels, says there is a fine line that must be walked.
"The concept that we've taken is that what we want to do is really warn without really alarming the guests and the warnings run the gamut of not leaving your property unattended on the beach to be careful when you go swimming," says Ferreira.
There is a ray of sunshine in this conference.
"All of the crime categories are on a downward trend from 2002 to 2006 so obviously based on those statistics the problems are getting better," says Ferreira.
"Yeah, we're very happy about that and I really think it's due to the collaboration of all the organizations and the law enforcement coalition - as well as the business community," says Jan Yamane, Waikiki Business Improvement District.
An island vacation can go sour in a hurry if a visitor is scammed or robbed. These visitor industry, business and law enforcement officials are meeting with one goal in mind - to prevent that from happening. But if it does, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii is there to help the visitor.
"Because they have no support mechanism, infrastructure or people to rely on while they're here as opposed to local residents who do have family and friends that they can go to," says Warren Ferreira, Outrigger Security.
More and more visitors are traveling to the neighbor islands. And there may be a tendency for them to feel safer in a less populated setting.
"It's a blessing to know that people feel very safe in Kauai but at the same time we just want to make sure that, as best as possible, try and do the things that would make you safe at any destination but specifically Kauai," says Susan Kanoho, Kauai Visitors Hawaii.
During the conference, businesses, hotel operators, hotel security personnel were reminded of warnings they need to pass on to visitors. Warren Ferreira, head of security for Outrigger hotels, says there is a fine line that must be walked.
"The concept that we've taken is that what we want to do is really warn without really alarming the guests and the warnings run the gamut of not leaving your property unattended on the beach to be careful when you go swimming," says Ferreira.
There is a ray of sunshine in this conference.
"All of the crime categories are on a downward trend from 2002 to 2006 so obviously based on those statistics the problems are getting better," says Ferreira.
"Yeah, we're very happy about that and I really think it's due to the collaboration of all the organizations and the law enforcement coalition - as well as the business community," says Jan Yamane, Waikiki Business Improvement District.
posted by ams at 2:59 PM
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