Treasuring Hawai'i and the Joys of ‘Voluntourism’

Mālama - to take care of, tend, attend, care for, preserve, protect.

As one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world, Hawai'i experienced the unique dilemma of overtourism for many years prior to COVID. Struggling to manage these unprecedented tourism demands, the HTA saw the global shutdown of travel as an opportunity to devise ways to reinstate more reciprocally beneficial tourism. 

Having consulted with local people and communities, it was decided that the Hawaiian notion of ‘Mālama’ would become the central focus of all marketing efforts going forward: placing emphasis on giving back to the community, land and oceans of the treasured archipelago. 

Sharing their local insights with the specialists at destination and tourism marketing agency, The Walshe Group, the meaningful tenets of Mālama became the new brand vision. Partnering with the innovative minds of Australia-based content agency, Vocal, The Walshe Group and Hawaiʻi Tourism Oceania delivered a complete content suite of assets consisting of video series, photography, articles and social cut downs for the Mālama campaign. 

Part of an agency alliance alongside Jack Morton and Weber Shandwick, Vocal is a content agency that promises to create content people talk about. With a specialised focus on video outputs, Tom Abood, former producer for Disney, ESPN and National Geographic, heads up the new content studio and was at the helm for the Hawai'i Tourism Oceania project. The new series sees First Nations Australian activist and model, Sam Harris, travel across four different islands, weaving the principles of Mālama into each adventure. 

Reflecting on the campaign, Hawai'i Tourism Oceania tells LBB: "We’ve absolutely loved working with Vocal on this project and we hope to use this content across our different activity throughout 2024 and beyond. As we look to the future, we can’t wait to get started on another project together!"

Speaking to Vocal business director, Tom Abood, and account director for Hawai'i Tourism Oceania at The Walshe Group, Jennifer Gaskin, LBB’s April Summers dissects the creative strategy at the heart of this conscientious ‘voluntourism’ campaign.

LBB> Can you tell us about the initial creative brief and Hawai'i Tourism Oceania’s key objectives for this series? 

Jennifer> Before COVID, Hawai'i, as a destination, was experiencing overtourism – it was not heading in the best direction. Locals were unhappy with the ways in which certain tourism - such as short term rentals and deforestation for the construction of new accommodation - was affecting the islands.

Of course, all of the islands are heavily reliant on tourism: it’s the number one industry and employer of Hawaiian people. So this wasn’t about saying “don't come to Hawai'i” but rather teaching visitors how to give back during their stay. 

We discovered straightaway, coming out of COVID, that the idea of 'voluntourism' had increased in popularity. There were more and more conversations around responsible and regenerative travel, but this type of travel still had a reputation for not necessarily aligning with relaxing holidays. Through this campaign, we wanted to demonstrate how travelling responsibly, and giving back to Hawaiian culture, can be done in a myriad of ways. Learning a few words in the language, supporting local businesses, eating local food – these are all ways to give back. We wanted to communicate that message and shift the perception. While there is nothing wrong with sipping a Mai Tai in a resort on Waikīkī Beach but Hawai'i offers much more than that!

LBB> Let’s talk about the research phase of this project – how did you acquire local insight for this marketing campaign?

Jennifer> Hawai'i is different from any other tourism board that I've worked with, in that everything is in consultation with local people. For example, when I present my marketing plan for the year, I present it to not only the board members of  Hawai'i Tourism Authority and tourism board, but also to the local community. Locals are welcomed to join these meetings via Zoom, should they wish to ask any questions about what we're doing, why we're doing it and how we're doing it. We use a Community Sentiment Survey and our main KPI is not how many visitors we can bring in from Australia but, instead, how happy Hawaiians are with the Australians and New Zealanders coming to Hawai'i.

LBB> In what ways does this new ‘Mālama’ campaign align with Hawai'i Tourism Oceania's brand building objectives?

Jennifer> We are trying to reach a new audience with this approach and our research shows captivating content and video will resonate with them the most. Visually, Hawai'i has some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, and Hawaiian people are the best spokespeople and advocates for the destination. A lot of what we do is led by a local voice and that is really important. 

LBB> Did you run into any challenges or technical difficulties during this project? If so, how did you overcome them?

Jennifer> For this production we travelled across the four main islands: Hawai'i Island, Maui, Kauaʻi, and Oʻahu. Each of those islands has what is called local chapters, each with their own unique way to connect and build community. These chapters act as custodians of the island when it comes to marketing, and then we have the HTA above them. We typically present our plans to HTA for approval, but with a project like this, we worked directly with each of the island chapters too. This was an invaluable asset to the work.

When working with the Kauaʻi chapter, for example, they would come back and recommend the operators, suppliers, and safe places that they were happy for us to film, as well as advising where we shouldn't film. We have quite an extensive, “do not promote” list for Hawai'i which is all about monitoring overtourism, as well as the safety of tourists, particularly when it comes to neighbourhoods that are not set up for tourism. We consider infrastructure, parking and hiking trails that aren't maintained well enough to accommodate large amounts of tourists. 

I don't know if other destinations have something similar but for Hawai'i we are very strict on how we are directing tourism and there was a lot of consultation between each of the islands’ chapters and HTA. While this isn’t exactly a challenge, it is a unique way of working. 

LBB> Tom, you have travelled around the world, making documentaries with National Geographic – how did those experiences inform this project?

Tom> National Geographic is one of the original storytellers in media, they've been around since 1888 and represent the gold standard of respectful storytelling. My work with Nat Geo instilled the importance of quality, respectful filmmaking in me – not exploitative, not brash, just genuine, beautiful storytelling.

LBB> How did Vocal’s unique approach to content creation benefit this project? 

Tom> Vocal is part of an agency alliance alongside Jack Morton and Weber Shandwick and we're passionate about making high quality content that tells authentic stories. While we are capable of standing on our own two feet, we can also dip in and out, grabbing the extra resources Jack Morton and Weber Shandwick offer, as and when we need them. For this project, our colleagues at Jack Morton and Weber Shandwick were available should we need to bring in additional expertise. The whole website build was carried out by the in-house technologists on the Jack Morton side; all the graphics that you see inside the content, the maps and those designs, came out of the creative team across all three agencies. 

As a result, we have the nimbleness of an upstart content studio, and the same kind of energy and drive, while also having that big brother and big sister in the corner who we can call in for the extra muscle –  this lets us play in both worlds at the same time. 

LBB> It sounds like this was such an enjoyable and life affirming project to work on. Looking back, what are you most proud of about the campaign?

Tom> This type of content is what we all want to do, right? Good storytelling that actually means something to so many people. This feels like the future of campaign work – everyone wins.

I loved working across all the islands, it was an amazing experience, but for me working with Sam was the biggest highlight. She's not your typical host, she’s not brash and loud, just super authentic. In a world that's dominated by bigger, more outrageous personalities, it’s refreshing to see someone more down to earth take centre stage. As the series progressed, we see her getting more and more comfortable, letting her true personality come through which was a joy to behold. 

Jennifer> I was on the shoot and Tom's absolutely right, Sam is such a genuine character! She was not acting, which was really nice. The Moana episode on the island of Oʻahu stands out for me. Sam took part in a Hawaiian ocean ceremony, ‘kapu ki’, led by a lady called Hi’ilani and her daughter. This ceremonious sea bath is all about submerging yourself in the ocean as a way of purifying yourself. When Sam came out of the water, there was such a genuine moment of connection between her and Hi’ilani’s daughter, it moved everybody to tears. It was a standout moment and this absolutely comes across in the content. This moment encapsulates the true essence of what we set out to do: present the genuine open-heartedness of Hawaiian people and extend their invitation to share their culture.