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Hilton’s Hawai‘i Branding Plans

Wikipedia Commons
Wikipedia Commons

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.

For Bishop, this was a move from up from being general manager of the Hilton Waikoloa, which is the Big Island’s largest private employer, having 1,000 employees.  She was new to the Islands when she took that job eight years ago and quickly assembled a culture committee.  The committee served two purposes. Educating Bishop on Hawaiian and local culture and improving the ways both are presented in the resort.

Bishop is bringing a similar approach to the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  High on her to-do list is a rebranding of the property overall, as well as rebranding the Alii and Rainbow Towers as brands within the larger brand.  This isn’t just an advertising or marketing strategy.  It’s a series of choices about everything from the uniforms employees’ wear at the different towers to the soaps offered in the guest rooms.

Bishop describes her job this way: “You’re balancing team member satisfaction, guest satisfaction, and your profit and your revenues. You have to hit them all.”

A. Kam Napier is the editor-in-chief of Pacific Business News.
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