Travel firms urge increase in marketing as visitor numbers slip

Travel firms urge increase in marketing as visitor numbers slip

Major U.S. travel companies are urging Gov. Josh Green and Hawaii tourism officials to ramp up marketing efforts, warning the state is losing ground to global competitors with aggressive campaigns. Their appeal to Green follows the nation’s longest federal government shutdown. Though the shutdown ended Wednesday, it greatly exacerbated previous slowdowns in Hawaii’s visitor industry due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to cut air t…