HONOLULU — Travel agency H.I.S. Co., Ltd. (HIS), the parent company of Hawaii HIS Corporation (HIS Hawaii), announced on Tuesday a year-long partnership with Hawaii Tourism Authority and Meet Hawaii.

HIS is based in Tokyo, Japan and was founded as International Tours Co., Ltd. by Hideo Sawada in 1980. It was renamed H.I.S. in 1990.

According to a news release, HIS Hawaii and HIS will target its largely Japanese corporate clients promoting the state as a premier destination for corporate meetings, conventions and incentive travel.

A collaboration between the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and Hawaii Convention Center, Meet Hawaii bolsters the Hawaiian Islands as a destination for business meetings, conventions and incentive programs.

Meet Hawaii Regional Executive Director of Asia/Oceania Andrew Koh stated in the release, “We will work with HIS and expand our engagements in the Japanese market with the ‘Malama Hawaii’ program and new products/services. We look forward to welcoming more corporate tours from Japan to Hawaii.”

HIS Hawaii began a partnership with Hawaii Tourism Japan in 2022 promoting responsible tourism and advancing regenerative tourism through the concept of “Malama Hawaii.”

The travel agency boasts over 5,000 participants in its “Malama Hawaii”-related events led by local nonprofit organizations. One of them is the “Genki Ala Wai Project,” making and tossing mud balls, known as “genki balls,” into the Ala Wai to digest sludge.

HIS Hawaii will launch “HIS New Way of Incentive Travel” under the new partnership that includes lectures on “Malama Hawaii”-related initiatives, environmental volunteer opportunities, familiarization tours targeting corporate tour organizers, online seminars that echo the “Malama Hawaii” message, unique opportunities to engage in the local environment and community and visiting key meeting venues.

Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.