The KizunAloha coalition was launched in late April to support Hawaii’s future economic recovery following the spread of COVID-19. In this effort, Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), along with more than 20 companies, government agencies, and non-profit organizations based in Hawaii and Japan aim to engage the Japanese market, one of the largest visitor sectors. 

KizunAloha is a coined word that combines Kizuna and Aloha, to emphasize the deep connection between Hawaii and Japan. Kizuna derives from the Japanese word “bond” and Aloha means love and compassion in Hawaiian. The campaign emphasizes the historic relationship between Hawaii and Japan, while giving potential visitors a deeper understanding of Hawaii and its culture. 

PacRim Marketing Group is one of the Hawaii-based companies that strive to support this initiative and maintain the bridge between Hawaii and the Japanese visitor market. Through its owned media MyHawaii Arukikata, the market experts have promoted KizunAloha Coalition to a wide audience of Japanese men and women who are interested in traveling to Hawaii. Consistently ranked at the top of the biggest search engines in Japan, MyHawaii Arukikata is the most popular commercial website about Hawaii in Japanese. 

MyHawaii Arukikata published articles about Governor Ige’s official video message, as well as the destination promotion video created by HTA on May 5 and May 8, 2020, respectively. These articles have received a lot of attention from the Japanese market, indicating the growing interest from the audience residing in Japan on the current situation in Hawaii. These articles were also promoted on MyHawaii Arukikata’s social media platforms, where they received numerous engagements and positive comments. Social media users on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter applaud the KizunAloha initiative and seem pleased to enjoy Hawaii’s scenery from home during this pandemic. Many of them also expressed their desire to see those scenes in person when it is safe for them to visit Hawaii. 

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