Part I of II

You can Learn a lot from Susan Tanzman's Hot Tips on Romantic Honeymoons to Hawaii

To sell Hawaii is to know Hawaii. Few would deny that selling vacations there – especially romance vacations and honeymoons – depends on knowing the place and the market like the back of your hand. Hence the abundance of Hawaii’s well-known destination specialist programs – the Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii programs, and The Travel Institute’s Hawaii wedding destination program.

In the following interview, Susan Tanzman, a Hawaiian destination specialist, addresses the special ins and outs of selling romantic trips to the Aloha state. Tanzman is well known to the travel agent community for her tireless work in ASTA and her designation as ASTA’s 2005 Travel Agent of the Year. She is a certified Oahu Destination Specialist and the owner of Martin’s Travel and Tours in Los Angeles. Here she focuses on choosing an island, and on the destination itself.

What is your preferred island for sending clients, and why?
No island should be preferred. It depends on the client. Agents have to learn that. Even if there is one island you love, you really have to listen to what the clients want to do and what type of vacation they want. For example, Molokai is cool, but for someone who wants nightlife, it may not be. Even in the romance market, you must understand what the clients are looking for, what they want to do. Not just, say, “adventure” or “romance.” For some people, the thought of going on a zipline trip and including that in their honeymoon is so exciting – usually to younger clients. Conversely, if you put two 20-year-olds on Molokai, they’re probably going to come back and kill you.

Is there a good all-around island choice? Where do clients end up going, for the most part?
Maui has probably done the most remarkable job of combining nightlife, excitement and romance. The Maui Visitors’ Bureau (MVB) has done an outstanding job in marketing Maui. But so have the other islands’ bureaus, when it comes to romance. Lanai and Molokai are somewhat less appealing because the accommodations are very expensive – they won’t meet the needs of many honeymoon clients, who are not people with unlimited budgets, especially if they’re in their 20s or early 30s.

What can you say about the trip budgets of most honeymooners?
Most have a specific amount in mind to spend, so a travel agent can’t expect that they will tolerate $500 a night for a room in most instances (though there are always exceptions). But that’s why, as an agent, you’re more apt to look at the Big Island, Kauai, Maui and Oahu.

Are there any other considerations when selecting an island?
The time of year. For example, in November, December and January, you will find a lot more rain on Kauai. If what the couple wants to do takes place outside, I’d hesitate to send them to a place that could get very wet. I might look at another island. If the planned honeymoon or vacation is not during those turn-of-the-year months, then I think all the major islands can be equally exciting to a honeymoon couple – depending once again, to some extent, on what they want.

How can you help ensure that couples have intimacy throughout their honeymoon?
Say I’m looking at Maui, and the customer wants something away from everything. I’d recommend the Hotel Hana Maui. It’s probably the only place that’s truly away from it all. On Oahu, of course, to fulfill the same request, it’s easier, because I have both the Kohala, which is one price range, and Turtle Bay. You also have the J.W. Marriott Iliani. To me, Turtle Bay, which is actually remote, is a sleeper, a great honeymoon destination – 800 acres of its own playing field, with horseback riding, golf, surfing, walking on deserted beaches. You can give clients the ambience of one of the other islands without their having to go there, saving them airfare. Book them at Turtle Bay for, say, three or four nights, then send them to Waikiki, where they can have the nightlife, all the entertainment they want, the great restaurants. Oahu alone can be a wonderful option.

What kinds of things should be avoided in seeking intimate honeymoon settings?
Well, classic hotels, like the Halekulani, are magnificent, but if we’re talking about intimacy, they’re often not what the doctor ordered. Even the J.W. Marriott Iliani is now questionable, with all those timeshare buildings close by, where the grounds used to be open. Thus, when someone asks for intimacy, Turtle Bay is in a class by itself. There’s really nothing else out there.

What about the other islands?
It’s similar on, say, Kauai. You’ve got a lot of places that are separate from other places, but they’re getting rarer. It’s harder to find that neat, special hotel that’s not embedded among several others. On the big island, there are some fabulous bed-and-breakfast places near Hilo, such as the Palmcliff House and the Shipman – both only 30 to 45 minutes from the volcano instead of a two-and-half-hour ride, as you would have elsewhere on the Big Island. You’ve got almost all the orchid farms, the macadamia nut farms, the flower farms…so many things in that area, fabulous for couples wanting intimacy and who don’t want large places around them.

Are remote places becoming harder to find on Kauai?
Yes. Everything seems to be in clusters. At Poipu, they’re all lined up. You go over to Princeville, it’s the same thing, and on the Gold Coast, it’s the same thing. One of the places that is more by itself is the Hilton, formerly the Radisson. It’s funny. A lot of clients ask for that unique property, but it’s actually rarer in Hawaii than in a place like the Caribbean, where you’ll have one hotel and nothing near it. You don’t have that as much in Hawaii. It’s built up in clusters, perhaps for a variety of reasons.

What if the client wants relatively less solitude and intimacy, and more excitement?
You mean nightlife, the bars, the clubs? Yes, it’s true, some people want that. That means you shift emphasis to the islands of Oahu and Maui, which have really swinging nightlife, with many more clubs, bars and things for young people to do. Still, you’ve got to be able to understand what your client wants. Each of the islands presents a very romantic experience if you take the time to discover what clients want to do and where.

Within the romance category, what are the vacation types?
As with the choice of islands, they vary, depending on the client. Some clients seek relative solitude; others seek excitement – say, taking in Pearl Harbor or the Punch Bowl, the city lights, five-star restaurants. One approach is to send clients to both sides of an island. On Maui, that’s booking the Hana Maui, proceeded or following by something in Kaanapali or the Wailea or Kihei area. On Oahu, Turtle Bay, followed or proceeded by Waikiki. On the Big Island, the small, intimate B&Bs for three or four days, then maybe send them to the Kohala Coast for an equal length of time. Remember, you’re trying to give your clients what they’re looking for.

Can you suggest ways to sell to those who want a more secluded beach experience?
I sit down with them with a map to show them where they’ll be going on each island. For example, on Oahu, my favorite beach is Waimanalo, on the backside of the island, past where Sea Life Park is. What I love about Waimanalo is that it’s completely lined with trees and homes. There, people live and work, so nobody is on the beach Monday through Friday. It’s beautiful, you have the trees, you have shade, it’s great for bodysurfing, the surf is clear – you can see your toes when you go into the water. It’s absolutely magnificent. And there’s a great little place to get a plate lunch.

Is there similar access to other beaches on Oahu?
Indeed, nearly all beaches in Hawaii are public. On Oahu there are lanes between groups of homes where you can go onto the beach. You can park your car there for free. Then go to the beach, buy lunch or, better, bring along a picnic lunch from your hotel. As much as people rave about a beach like Kailua, there are other beaches that simply have no people! Even on the North Shore, there are small beaches where you’ll see almost no one. So, seated with my clients, I draw arrows on maps pointing to the beaches they should visit. Another cool place, especially for marriage proposals, is past the J.W. Marriott on the west end where it ends – there’s an absolutely incredible beach park out there, the water’s gorgeous, the sunset’s right out in front of you, an incredible place either to propose to someone or to exchange vows. Ka’Ena Point State Park is the name. It’s Yokohama Bay, past Makaha – it’s fantastic!

Click here to read Grooving in Aloha, Part II.