By HUNTER BISHOP By HUNTER BISHOP ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald staff writer George Applegate began his career as a bellman for the Naniloa Hotel more than 40 years ago. On Friday, he worked his last day for the Big Island Visitors Bureau,
By HUNTER BISHOP
Tribune-Herald staff writer
George Applegate began his career as a bellman for the Naniloa Hotel more than 40 years ago.
On Friday, he worked his last day for the Big Island Visitors Bureau, retiring as executive director after nearly 25 years promoting Hawaii as a tourist destination.
On Monday, Ross Birch officially will take over the reins of the BIVB. Birch has 23 years of experience in the hospitality industry on Hawaii Island and spent the last 15 years promoting tourism through golf as a member of the BIVB board of directors. His most recent position was general manager of the Makalei Golf Course, overseeing all aspects of the operation including marketing and operations.
The 43-year-old Birch, an Iowa native, came to Hawaii in 1990 as an intern for a golf management company, and since then has been director of golf sales at the Mauna Lani Resort, and head golf professional at the Waikoloa Beach Resort’s Kings’ Golf Club.
Birch has wasted little time getting started in the new gig, having spent much of the past six weeks working with Applegate to get fully acclimated to the new position.
Applegate, meanwhile, will stay active in the tourism industry with his own consulting firm to help businesses in Hawaii and elsewhere connect with the Hawaii visitors market. Applegate, 66, said he’s grateful for the help and cooperation he has received from the many people he’s worked with during his stint with HIVB, and he especially thanked his family for accommodating the demands the job placed on him.
Birch comes into the job at the top of a wave of positive — in some areas record-breaking — tourism numbers for Hawaii. He expects that the double digit increases seen over the past three years will level off to a lower set of still-positive numbers.
“Our No. 1 goal is to create the demand, promote a premiere destination and use our partners to provide us with all of what’s found nowhere else on the earth but here,” Birch said.
“The potential problem is not having enough airlift, specifically to the Big Island, to make sure we can continually bring more visitors to this destination,” he said. “Air lift goes hand-in-hand with demand.” Airlines no longer schedule routes without the demand for seats first, he said. “We have to create the demand. Enhancing the arrival and departure experience at both Kona and Hilo airports is imperative.”
Birch sees his role as “liaison” between the island’s stakeholders and HVCB, developing relationships with community leaders, government officials and visitor industry marketing partners. “We’re here to support all our partners,” he said. “Anyone who’s related to the business at all.”
Though Birch can retain his status as a PGA professional golfer, the Iowa native now only plays the game about once a month. Birch and his wife, Tammy, live in Honokaa where she was born and raised, and they have three sons — 21, 17 and 9. “My kids take up the majority of my spare time,” Birch said, but the younger ones play baseball, not golf.
During the 23 years he’s lived here he’s seen his wife’s family cope with the transition from plantation work to the visitor industry. “Success is keeping those bodies working,” he said. “Everybody on the island is affected by tourism one way or another.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge of doing things in the right way.”
Email Hunter Bishop at hbishop@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
