We had a seat at the table with other heads of Europe and America and Asia.” And so it’s very eye-opening for our travel agents … They’re just like, I had no idea that Hawaii was that involved in global politics, in a sense, back in the 1800s. “Pearl Harbor and pineapples are usually what’s covered in America history class. “ lived through the monarchy, she lived through the overthrow, and so from a historical place it doesn’t get any more accurate than her experience of Hawaii from the 1830s to the early 1900s,” says Daines.Īs Daines explains, because Hawaii is now a US state - something it has only been since 1959 - most American students only learn about it in that context. It’s a book that Daines used to give all visiting travel agents and tour operators a copy of back when he was Director of Sales at the Oahu Visitors Bureau. If you are up for a book, get a copy of Hawaii Queen by Hawaii’s Queen, written by Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii’s last reigning queen. “They’re wanting to know more about the place, and they want to also travel where they can give back.”įor those wanting to better understand the culture of Native Hawaiians and how to give back, we’ve got a few suggestions:īefore you go, familiarize yourself on the basics of Hawaii’s fascinating history, even if it’s just a well-researched article you can find on the internet. Today’s new generation of travelers is “more educated and more interested in culture and history,” says Daines. The good news, says Daines, is that travelers want to know Hawai’i more deeply, and many are ready to take the time and effort to do so. And we, in the last 10 to 15 years, have been reclaiming that image of who we are.” They were telling the rest of the world, without talking to us, this is how we interpret Hawaii. “We didn’t have a chance to tell our story, and only now are we telling our story,” says Daines. In fact, the Hawai‘i Visitors Bureau had never had a position focused on culture before, and he essentially wrote his own job description for it. Davies wants visitors to have a better understanding of the land of his Hawaiian ancestors.
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