Co-opetition In Tourism

Recently, I was named in a news article as someone giving free advice to a new tourism organization in Hawai‘i – the Hawai‘i Tourism Association. I have been approached by many friends and acquaintances asking “what the heck is all that about?” There seems to be a lot of suspicion in Hawai‘i when anything new arises which might appear to upset the status quo.

In fact, I’m a believer that the status quo is always fair game. I came of age in an era when bumper stickers touted the slogan “question authority.” There’s always a benefit to looking at the status quo, especially in unsettled times. I distinctly remember that one of my less-than-stellar grades on a paper in my graduate program came from a comment that I had made indicating that I was following “the conventional wisdom” in coming to a conclusion. The terse margin note from the professor was “NEVER accept the conventional wisdom without critical analysis.”

So, there’s a new organization in the tourism arena in Hawai‘i. That’s not a bad thing. However, some in the industry see competition as a threat. In the case of the Hawai‘i Tourism Association, I would characterize them as an example of co-opetition rather than competition.

In my career, I have worked at the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority and have managed the advertising for the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau. I know first hand that, with limited resources, they have to do triage. They can’t be everywhere and they can’t service everyone. They have to choose geographic markets and they have to prioritize vertical markets because of their lack of budget and bandwidth. They have to address the high level strategic needs of the state and the industry. I understand that. But, that means that there are niche markets and vast swaths of geography that go untended.

I definitely can see a role in the virtual world to connect buyers and sellers in these niche markets. Is there a travel agency in Singapore that wants information about travel products in Hawai‘i? Singapore isn’t covered in the state’s plans (because of budgets). But, in the virtual world, an organization like the Hawai‘i Tourism Association can connect buyers and sellers virtually. Are there groups out there representing special interests (the GLBT market, the Hispanic market, bass fishing clubs, cultural tours) that aren’t supported by state plans. Let the free market and the worldwide web make the connections that are missing in the state’s programs. It’s not a case of competition. It’s a case of market self-determination. That’s the genius of Craigs List, eBay and other C-to-C and B-to-B communities.

If the tourism industry wants to rely solely on official and approved organizations and programs, that’s their prerogative. If I were grading them, however, they’d find a big marginal note: “Look Outside the Conventional Wisdom.”