Hawaii tourist trade rejoices over South Korea visa waiver

HONOLULU -- Hawaii tourism officials rejoiced upon hearing President Bush has decided to lift visa requirements for South Korean tourists.

Friday's decision means South Koreans -- like Japanese, Brits and citizens of other prosperous U.S. allies -- will no longer have to go through the hassle of obtaining visas before they travel to the U.S. for short-term visits.

"This is a good day," said Marsha Wienert, the state's tourism liaison, saying Gov. Linda Lingle was "ecstatic."

Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will also be added to the U.S. visa waiver program in about a month, President Bush announced Friday at a ceremony in the Rose Garden.

But it was South Korea that had tourism officials in Hawaii celebrating. Wienert expects the number of tourists from South Korean to double to 80,000 next year and double again to 160,000 in 2010.

This is welcome news for the industry during a year marked by the back-to-back collapse of ATA and Aloha airlines and a plunge in visitor arrivals. The global financial crisis and economic slowdown have also weighed on the industry.

"In a time where we want for favorable news, this is an outstanding development," said Kelvin Bloom, the Hawaii Tourism Authority chair and the president of ResortQuest Hawaii.

Officials and private companies have been preparing for the visa waiver.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has boosted its marketing efforts in South Korea, particularly in the past two years, said David Uchiyama, vice president of tourism marketing for the HTA.

The authority has already set up a Korean language website through Hawaii Tourism Korea, a vitally important information outlet in heavily wired South Korea.

Bloom said ResortQuest Hawaii recently opened a sales office in South Korea in anticipation of the visa waiver.

Oahu is likely to benefit the most from the rule change, at least in the first few years, Wienert said. Of the 40,000 who visited last year, the vast majority came to Oahu. About a third also made short side trips to Maui.

Frank Haas, interim assistant dean of the University of Hawaii's School of Travel Industry Management, said the key factors influencing the flow of South Koreans will be the economy and the number of airplane seats.

Korean Air currently flies nonstop from Seoul to Honolulu, and has shown interest in expanding its Hawaii service, Haas said. Other airlines may join Korean Air if there's enough demand.

South Korean tourists will not make up for the decline in visitors from Japan and the U.S. West Coast, however.

Japanese visitors to Hawaii last year totaled 1.3 million while U.S. mainland visitor arrivals tallied 5.14 million.

But an increase in South Korean visitors will help the tourism industry develop a broader foundation, shielding against a recession in any one major market.

That is a lesson the industry learned when business suffered during Japan's recent prolonged economic malaise.

"If you can get the market diversified, it lowers the risk of any one market going into decline," Haas said. "It gives us a better, more secure base for our economy."