Over the summer, the Hawaii Visitors Bureau became the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau. The bureau's president, Paul Casey, said the name change indicates the entity's renewed efforts to attract meetings, conventions, and incentive groups to the islands.
In other Hawaii news, Housing On-Line, an Epic Enterprises/PGI company, based in Las Vegas, NV, has won a two-year contract with the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau to handle reservations for convention accommodations. The firm will charge on a flat-fee basis.
The contract is Housing On-Line's first with a bureau. Other clients include major trade shows and associations, such as the Consumer Electronics Show, and shows for Pemco, a tradeshow management company. More than 20 years old, Housing On-Line became PGI's first housing company acquisition in July. Noting that Las Vegas is one of the markets infamous for housing commissions controversy, vice president Robert Colvin says that his company offers several fee structures, including rebates, flat fees, or a mix, depending on the client's needs.
"We're different than other housing companies," Colvin asserts. "We do it with a hotel mind-set. Our executives and employees come out of the hotel industry. We don't say, this way or no way. We partner with the hotel and the client."