Those considering a vacation in the Hawaiian Islands can now enjoy a sneak peek on their smartphones using the new GoHawaii app, released this week by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA).
The platform features a range of content, including everything from a comprehensive collection of safety information to festival and event details as well as attraction, weather and cultural specifics for each of Hawaii's six visitor-friendly islands.
"Hawaii is really composed of so many different islands that have very unique characteristics," said Randy Baldemor, the HTA's COO.
"A lot of visitors, when they think of Hawaii, they think of the sun and the beach," he added. "But Hawaii is so much more than that, and it's really important for us as the state's tourism agency to help everyone to understand that."
Baldemor said showcasing Hawaii's broad diversity as a destination was one of the major goals for the new app, which the HTA began working cooperatively on with a number of state tourism stakeholders about six months ago.
Visitor safety was another key component for HTA officials, according to Baldemor, who noted the app includes information about ocean safety, outdoor recreation safety and road safety as well as general travel tips and marine species protection dos and don'ts.
"Visitors are outdoors all the time in Hawaii," he said. "This app helps keep them safe while they enjoy the beauty of our islands."
The GoHawaii app's Travel Smart section offers tips and safety advice.
After downloading the app myself, I was impressed by all of the safety advice the platform offers vacationers, including common rules many locals learn early in the Islands, such as not turning your back on the ocean or paying close attention to rising mountain streams while out hiking.
And for those who offer a little information to the app about their tentative vacation plans, such as which islands they hope to visit and what types of experiences they'd like to enjoy, the new platform produces a customized and impressively comprehensive list of activity options, festival or event ideas, and even specific regions to explore for each of the vacationers' chosen islands.
Baldemor added that the HTA hopes the new app will be something travel agents use with clients considering the possibility of a Hawaii vacation.
"I think for travel agents, it can be very helpful for them to have something they can point to and also something they can encourage their customers to utilize when making that conversion decision," he explained. "I think it will only enrich the discussion about why it makes sense to travel to Hawaii."
The early August release of the app is just phase one of the platform's evolution, according to Baldemor. The HTA plans to debut further improvements at the Hawaii Tourism Conference next month.
"We are already working on phase two, which will feature things like making the app more friendly for tablets and other devices." Baldemor said. "We're exploring social sharing so that information from the app can be shared from users to other people. We're looking at GPS beacons and push [notification] technology, so we can convey more specific information to visitors based on their needs, and then of course just more content overall."
The app offers users serveral Hawaii-specific emojis to use once their vacation is over.
In the meantime, app users should be sure to check out the "Locomoji" options, which are a collection of Hawaii-specific emojis users can share with friends, like popular state flowers, food, and even an adorable little Hawaiian green sea turtle.
"We wanted the app to be fun," Baldemor explained. "If the app isn't something people like using, then obviously it's not going to be effective. But we can convey information and have fun at the same time, and I think the locomojis are just a piece of that. At the same time, they're an opportunity to share, in a minor way, a little bit of Hawaii."
The GoHawaii app is free and available for download in the Google Play store and the Apple iTunes store.