We're seeing a tremendous increase in active lifestyle vacations. Hawaii hasn't been chasing the more active visitors, except maybe golfers, Portain said. In search of new adventures Nature tourism, the kind of outdoor adventure known as ecotourism, is a huge emerging market and Hawaii should go after it more, he said. One of the three offices his company has in the Dallas area is entirely focused on active lifestyle travel, he said. It's not really hard to sell Hawaii, he said.
People know about it.
There is competition, he said, particularly from cruises, but Hawaii will always be attractive. But while Brewbaker predicts that eastbound travel to the islands, from Japan and other Asia-Pacific regions, will continue to grow well into the next century, he doesn't hold the same opinion for travel from the mainland. And for Hawaii's struggling poor economy, that will hurt since more visitors mean more spending, more tax revenues, more jobs. But not everyone in the industry benefits from the Japanese business. Japanese tourists mostly keep to Oahu.