April is Volunteer Month in Hawai‘i.
HONOLULU – The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA) has partnered with Kanu Hawai‘i to make it simpler for guests to go looking and join enriching volunteer alternatives all through the state. Vacationers planning their journeys within the Hawaiian Islands can now entry the Mālama Hawai‘i Volunteer Dashboard at GoHawaii.com/malama, the state’s official web site for guests.
“Vacationers are looking for a deeper, significant expertise, and what makes the Hawaiian Islands not like anyplace else on the earth is our folks, multi-cultural heritage, and reciprocal reference to the land and ocean,” stated Mufi Hannemann, HTA board chair. “The Mālama Hawai‘i dashboard permits guests to simply join with nonprofits looking for volunteers to assist our neighborhood in methods comparable to restoring Hawaiian fishponds, sorting meals donations at meals banks, and serving to at neighborhood occasions.”
Guests can view the Mālama Hawai‘i volunteer alternatives at GoHawaii.com/malama or GoHawaii.com/voluntourism. Alternatives to assist Maui in its restoration following the August 2023 wildfires are additionally featured on the web site. Guests can join by submitting an RSVP, which generates an e mail to the companion who will reply with additional data. Guests may also present financial donations on to the nonprofit organizations in the event that they select to.
“HTA’s partnership with Kanu Hawai‘i in growing the Mālama Hawai‘i dashboard is an instance of regenerative tourism growth benefiting our neighborhood,” stated Daniel Nāho‘opi‘i, HTA’s interim president and CEO. “By integrating Kanu Hawai‘i’s system and their community of nonprofit organizations all through the state, we’re seamlessly connecting guests with much more alternatives to enhance our dwelling for future generations.”
A customized reporting dashboard has additionally been designed to trace key metrics statewide and by island, together with the variety of volunteers who join and the variety of service hours offered. Nāho‘opi‘i added, “HTA will collect this baseline and ongoing information of tourists taking part in these volunteer alternatives, which will even reduce the burden on the organizations and neighborhood teams to gather and report the data.”
“We have to make investments extra in quantifiable actions that can inform whether or not we’re making a distinction in relation to accountable and regenerative tourism,” stated Keone Kealoha, government director of Kanu Hawaiʻi. “Creating a transparent pathway for guests to actionize the Mālama Hawaiʻi message by means of volunteering is a technique we are able to try this. Not solely is it a optimistic giveback to Hawaiʻi, it’s an expertise that many will say was the spotlight of their go to.”
All through April, HTA can also be supporting Volunteer Month organized by Kanu Hawai‘i as a part of HTA’s 2024 Neighborhood Enrichment program, which helps experiences which are developed by the neighborhood, for the neighborhood, and are issues the neighborhood needs to share with guests. The statewide, cross-sector marketing campaign brings collectively residents, guests, nonprofits, companies, colleges, and authorities companies in a concerted effort to take grassroots motion that serves Hawai‘i’s communities.
HTA and its Hawai‘i Tourism USA workforce launched the Mālama Hawai‘i program in 2020 through the pandemic. Since then, the private-public partnership program has grown to incorporate 36 organizations all through the state. Taking part organizations featured on the dashboard have accomplished HTA’s Customer Readiness Guidelines, making certain they’ve the assets and capability for guests to take part alongside residents.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Community the place she is the Editor-in Chief. She can also be liable for the day by day operation and the monetary coverage. She holds a Bachelor’s diploma in Tourism Enterprise Administration from the Technical College of Athens and a Grasp in Enterprise Administration (MBA) from the College of Wales.
She has a few years of each tutorial and industrial expertise inside the journey trade. She has written/edited quite a few articles in numerous tourism magazines.
