Cook Islands Tourism was invited to present at Hawaiian Airlines' (HA) annual global sales conference held in Honolulu late last month.

The conference was their first global gathering since the pandemic. In attendance were 70 HA sales representatives from across their US markets as well as Japan, New Zealand, and Australia to name a few. 

Christian Mani, general manager for North America, presented the destination with the focus being where and why choose the Cook Islands for their client's next vacation. When participants were asked to list one feature that best sells the Cook Islands in their opinion, many stated wide open beaches, beauty, lagoon, untouched. 

The winner of the prize was Esther Suh who is based within the US sales team and is very much looking forward to experiencing all that she heard and learned. The prize was presented by director of global sales and marketing, Noeline Mateariki at the evening dinner event held at the Alohilani Resort rooftop restaurant co-hosted by the Cook Islands. A Cook Islands string band was there to entertain and give them a taste of our Cook Islands hospitality.

Hawaiian Airlines will begin flying to the Cook Islands from Honolulu starting 20 May, 2023 with flights every Saturday following this. The flight provides the country with connections to 15 US gateway cities and more with a free stopover in Honolulu.

• CI Tourism