Waikiki

Waikīkī has seen a lot of changes in recent years. That’s especially true for its retail scene — which has gone through a transformation in less than a decade. 

In 2017, Hawai‘i set high tide records for four straight months. It turned out to be because of a combination of factors including sea level rise, and an El Nino effect. Today, HPR’s Planet808 takes a look at the high tides we’ll be experiencing this week.

Government and private business partners announced stepped up security efforts in Waikīkī - the state's major economic engine.

Past Present and Future: we take a look at the Ecology of Waikiki. We bring back voices of the past and also look at the challenges ahead as we move into 2019 and beyond.

Recorded stories-- oral histories of a special place tied to our economic engine and voices that need to be heard as we navigate solutions to climate change and rising sea levels.

It’s a chance to share your memories about Oahu’s south shore or your worries about we need to do now and what we leave for our children.

Our guests today were:

The simple sign for Kobayashi’s Art Enterprise was a familiar sight on 12th Avenue in Kaimukī for decades.  The small second floor frame shop was a hangout for one of Hawai‘i’s most important artists, Satoru Abe, who encouraged the owner, Hamilton Kobayashi to paint.  Now they’re both featured in a show at Saks 5th  Avenue in Waikīkī.  HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.

When you head to Kuhio Beach in the center of Waikiki, you expect to be able to rent a surfboard, maybe get lessons, or even try one of those famous outrigger canoe rides.  You can do this through two for-profit city concessions, which go up to bid every five years.  This time, new regulations will likely mean the end of an era.  HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.

Community Check-in: Waikiki    

This year, one of Honolulu’s most important annual art exhibitions is taking its theme of contact and connection right into our tourist capital.  Contact Hawai'i is bringing live art installations and displays to the middle of Waikiki tonight.  HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.

One super fun addition to the Waikīkī scene this year was a little Hawaiian Monk Seal pup, who was named for her birthplace, Kaimana.  More than two million followed Kaimana on the live webcam and over a thousand people visited her daily.  Even though the photos many of us took looked like two slugs on a sand lot, the thrill of seeing them in person got us down there time after time.

Deedy Case Headed for a Third Trial; Waikiki Natatorium; Improving School Bus Efficiency; Global Teacher Prize

In a continuing discussion about climate change, there are  opportunities and challenges in the year ahead.  Today, HPR’s Noe Tanigawa speaks with Chip Fletcher, Associate Dean at UH Mānoa, and a professor of geology and geophysics.  His research shows water creeping inland and seeping up into neighborhoods sooner than you might think.

Pearl Harbor Memories; Waikiki Erosion; Wartime Hawaii in Fiction; Farm Equipment Theft

Big Island Coffee Bean Theft; Increase in Waikiki Violence; Public Sector Unions; My Mother Said, Watch Out for Those French Girls

On the Diamond Head end of Waikīkī, crowds of up to a hundred people have been reported along the boundaries set up on Kaimana beach to protect a monk seal and her pup.  The pup, born between June 27 and 28, is growing and getting stronger, prompting new and broader warnings from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.

Honolulu City Council members were briefed last week on plans to ease parking and delivery congestion in Waikiki.   HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.

The presidential election has dominated the news all week. But there was also a dramatic development this week in Hawai‘i’s visitor industry. Pacific Business News Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier has more on the latest from Outrigger Hotels & Resorts.

One of Hawai‘i’s largest hotel chains has been sold.

Outrigger Hotels and Resorts will be purchased by K-S-L Capital Partners—a private equity group. Although terms were not disclosed.  The transaction includes all of Outrigger's hotels, condominiums, and vacation resort properties.

Waikiki hotels and timeshares are near or at capacity this year as visitor arrivals climb past the 8-million mark for the entire state.  That opens the door for visitors to seek alternative vacation rentals.  HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.

The International marketplace in Waikīkī opens today as a re-imagined shopping mall.

What does it take to run the biggest resort in the state? Pacific Business New interviews Debi Bishop to find out. Editor in Chief A. Kam Napier has the story.

In April, Debi Bishop was named managing director of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Not only is it the largest resort in the state, it is also the largest Hilton in the world, by number of guest rooms.  2,860 rooms to be exact, spread among seven towers across 22 acres.  About 3,000 people work at the Hilton Hawaiian village. Bishop is responsible for every facet of the operation.

In the 1980’s, Japanese investment poured into Hawai‘i—from residential real estate to hotels. Hawai‘i is still a popular destination for Japanese investors…. but they’re increasingly being joined by those from South Korea. HPR’s Bill Dorman has more in today’s Asia minute.

South Korea’s central bank cut interest rates to a record low Thursday…one and a quarter percent.  Those low interest rates at home are one factor driving investment money abroad—including here in Hawai‘i.

A luxury condominium-hotel in Waikiki will be opening soon.   But first, the developer must obtain approvals from the city two years after construction started.   HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports. 

Hawai’i’s $15 billion visitor industry is in the process of diversifying and re-tooling to meet an onslaught of competition from other tourist destinations. HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.    

A Honolulu City Council Committee approved a plan to build a second luxury tower in Waikiki today, on the same block that another high-end building is already under construction.   HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka reports.     

State Representative Tom Brower created quite a controversy earlier this week with his sledge-hammer attacks on grocery shopping carts in Waikiki as his way to rid the area of homelessness.   The Honolulu City Council has been pursuing another method by creating a new law that would ban lying down on public sidewalks in certain districts.    HPR’s Wayne Yoshioka has been following this story and filed this report.