HONOLULU (KHON2) — With the end of the summer holidays, the prime season for the tourism industry comes to a close. However, this year tourism didn’t quite meet the amount of earnings that were initially projected.
“Looking at the forecast, we missed it by a couple of percentage points,” said James Tokioka, Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “A lot of it has to do with the tariffs and political things that the state has no control over.”
While it’s tourism industry may have been slightly lackluster, Hawaiʻi recently had a big win on the silver screen, with the release of Jason Momoa’s passion project, “Chief of War”, last Friday, which tells the story of Chief Ka’iana of Kauaʻi.
The show had been in the making for over a decade, with Momoa, a Native Hawaiian, hoping to help showcase an important part of Hawaiian history, but also hoping to increase tourism with visitors having a better understanding of Hawaiian culture.
“People come from all over the world to get married, to come here, they think somehow Hawaiʻi resonates with people,” said Momoa. “Now they’re going to be in the comforts of their home in Norway or Japan, and they’re going to be watching to see the truth about who we are.”
“What I’m hoping is that there’s an evolution of tourism,” said Thomas Pa’a Sibbett, an executive producer on “Chief of War”. “That people can come (to Hawaiʻi) with a different respect, a different understanding of who Hawaiians are, what Hawai’i is representing, and really knowing where we are.”
So far, the show has received positive reviews, currently holding a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics praising Momoa’s performance.
With the show’s success, the DBEDT is looking to capitalize on it in anyway possible.
While most of the show was filmed in New Zealand, primarily due to tax reasons, DBEDT is looking to increase its budget to better accommodate film productions in Hawaiʻi moving forward.
“We are changing some of our marketing methods to do film production tourism,” said Takioka. “We’ve got to try and find a middle ground where what we can provide would help them with their production.”
Takioka mentioned how major television and film projects having Hawaiian ties is beneficial for their business, beyond just “Chief of War”, but also movies like “Lilo and Stitch” and projects by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
“We’re very fortunate to have them,” said Takioka.
“Chief of War” is also developing a local fanbase, with locals praising the use of ʻOlelo throughout the show.
“Some of the elders, they would call and they’re just crying and just thankful and just going man… I remember when I was a kid and my tutu was always talking Hawaiian,” said Brian Keaulana, a producer on “Chief of War”. “It was just for them, uplifting and magical and just felt like they just got launched back into that time.”
“Chief of War” episodes come out Friday on Apple TV+.