NaHHA, travel2change Launch Partnership To Support Non-Profits And Community Stewardship Groups
The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association and travel2change are partnering to help Hawaiʻi non-profit organizations and community groups build capacity to host experiences for kamaʻāina and visitors in a manner that advances the community’s vision and aspirations, a key concept of regenerative tourism.
The partnership, called Kaiāulu Hoʻokipa, will recruit interested groups for a pilot cohort that will commence in October. The program will include sessions to develop their organizational capacity, experience NaHHA’s signature Hawaiian cultural training, develop their experience offering, and list their activity on travel2change’s platform. Cohort members will meet with existing travel2change activity hosts, organizational development experts, NaHHA’s team of trainers and practitioners, and other professionals tailored for the cohort’s success.
This program is generously supported by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, Alaska Airlines and other visitor industry and community partners.
Applications for the cohort are open now at travel2change.org/apply. An informational presentation will be held on October 8. Sign up for NaHHA’s newsletter at NaHHA.com to be kept up to date with the latest.
Since 2011, travel2change has curated activities to connect mindful travelers with communities. Their website, travel2change.org, offers opportunities to join the stewards of special places across Hawaiʻi and work side by side to mālama native ecosystems, working fishponds and farms, and engage with our home on a deeper level. The visitors contribute their work/labor/mana, and any activity fees support the work of the stewardship group.
“travel2change is all about forging mutually beneficial, reciprocal relationships between hosts and guests, an environmentally sustainable giveback model centered on fun and impact,” said Mondy Jamshidi Kent of travel2change. “The activities we curate create opportunities for genuine connection to people and place, and support our communities at every level.”
With mālama as the organizing principle for the work of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, an increased awareness of the importance of visitors to give back to Hawaiʻi thanks to efforts like the Hawaiʻi Visitors & Conventions Bureau’s Mālama Hawaiʻi initiative, and the desires of communities across Hawaiʻi as expressed in the Destination Management Action Plans, HTA and NaHHA saw an opportunity for non-profit organizations and community groups to grow experiences that support and advance their work while engaging kamaʻāina and visitors.
“NaHHA’s founders, Dr. George Kanahele and Sen. Kenneth Brown, had very different views of the visitor industry – but they agreed that visitors have a role to play in caring for Hawaiʻi, and that Hawaiʻi has a role to play in teaching visitors how to care for their own homelands,” said Mālia Sanders, Executive Director of NaHHA. “Ma ka hana ka ʻike – there is no better way to learn how to mālama than to engage in it, and we are excited to help non-profits and stewardshipgroups build their capacity to mālama their communities through this partnership.”
“We heard the community loud and clear through the Destination Management Action Plan process, that if visitors will be welcome in our communities, they need to participate in and give back to our communities,” said Kalani Kaʻanāʻanā, Chief Brand Officer of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority. “Participating in regenerative experiences like the ones featured on travel2change are a great way for visitors to do just that. We are proud to support this work.”
More information about the program and NaHHA’s efforts to support community organizations is available at NaHHA.com/kaiaulu, and applications for this partnership are available at travel2change.org/apply.
This work to grow opportunities for visitors to participate positively in the community is guided by the vision of the founders of both organizations, the strategic plan of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, the priorities of kamaʻāina as expressed in the Destination Management Action Plans, Hawaiʻi’s sustainability goals in the Aloha+ Challenge, the global UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the guiding principles of the ʻĀina Aloha Economic Futures Declaration.
About the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association
The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association was founded in 1997 by Sen. Kenneth Brown and Dr. George Kanahele, two iconic Hawaiian leaders who understood the implications, opportunities and impacts that Hawai‘i’s largest industry was having on the people of Hawai‘i, Hawaiian culture, local ways and our state’s natural and cultural resources.
Inspired by a shared vision of Hawai‘i, Brown and Kanahele co-founded NaHHA to shape the future of Hawai‘i tourism by utilizing Hawaiian cultural values as the foundation for business development and leadership. NaHHA promotes Hawaiian culture, values, and traditions in the workplace through consultation and education, and supports those who advance this mission.
NaHHA’s work is supported by the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority.
About travel2change
Travel2change connects travelers to local communities to create a positive impact, directing volunteers and economic support through travel2change's local network of 'āina-based projects that help feed, nurture and restore the local environment, community wellness and culture.
Founded in Hawai'i 2011, travel2change helped to pioneer an innovation in Hawaii's travel industry: toward a more responsible "organic" option; environmentally sustainable give-back model that is first designed to support local. A mutually-beneficial reciprocal relationship that centers on fun and impact is made possible by supporting local efforts and local economies that give back at every level.
Since 2017, with generous support made possible in part by the Hawaii Tourism Authority travel2change has expanded across Hawai`i and has also been recognized for the Local 2030 UN Sustainability Goals and a 'household name' in the industry. Through many community efforts, Hawai'i is now considered a leader in sustainability globally, and Aloha+ Challenge dashboard, a local ongoing log of activity impact in Hawai'i. We hope we all do our part to give back to the land which feeds us and guests can help us to take care of the land where we call home.
Learn more at travel2change.org.