HONOLULU (HI Now) - Hawaii’s visitor industry generates more than $21 billion in spending and over $3 billion in state tax revenue each year, but the conversation around tourism is evolving. Dr. Jerry Agrusa, Professor of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii’s Shidler College of Business, has spent 25 years researching hospitality and tourism management across more than 25 countries, with work cited in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Forbes. On HI Now Daily’s “Faculty on the Move” series, Agrusa shares findings from two landmark studies that are reshaping how Hawaii thinks about its most important industry.
In his sustainable tourism research, Agrusa and colleagues found that an overwhelming majority of U.S. visitors want to engage in sustainable practices and expect the tourism industry to support them. Drawing on Costa Rica as a global model, where more than a quarter of the country is protected parkland and ecotourism has become a way of life, Agrusa says Hawaii is ready to add a fourth “s” to its identity: sun, sea, sand and sustainability. In a second study on cultural intelligence, or CQ, he found that hospitality employees who score high in CQ are better equipped to serve a diverse global visitor base, experience less burnout and deliver stronger customer service, findings that are now shaping employee training and curriculum priorities across the state.
Christian Fern, Executive Director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, joins the conversation to highlight why UH faculty like Agrusa are among Hawaii’s most valuable and underrecognized assets. Faculty bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in non-state research funding, generate jobs and mentor the next generation of Hawaii’s workforce, creating a virtuous cycle of investment that benefits the entire state.
To learn more about UH faculty and their latest work, visit hawaii.edu/news. Students interested in Travel Industry Management can explore undergraduate and graduate programs at shidler.hawaii.edu/tim.
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