Boosting Chinese tourism to Hawaii is the focus of an event getting underway in Waikiki.
While the State and visitor industry work with prominent Chinese government and airline leaders, hurdles to expanding the market remain.
More than 50 million people from China will travel outside the country this year, and Hawaii hopes to grab a bigger share of that market.
But they don't yet have the air seats to get here in great numbers.
That's something the governor is focusing on with at least two airlines, one of them Hainan Airlines has its chairman in Hawaii this week.
"They have the flights, it's just convincing them that they can be profitable on this route, and their route would be between Beijing and Honolulu up to three times per week," said Governor Linda Lingle.
She says the State is in discussions with another airline about regularly scheduled charters from Shanghai.
"If we can get some direct flights put in place that's going to make a tremendous difference," said Rick Egged of the Waikiki Improvement Association.
While airlines often seek assurances or guarantees before launching a new international market the governor says the state can't offer airport favors such as landing fee breaks, but it could help with marketing through the tourism authority.
"There's also through our office in Beijing, the DBEDT office, a chance to help on that side with the visa issues."
And that's the second major hurdle. Getting a visa is perceived as lengthy and difficult despite attempts to streamline the appointment waiting process.
"The State department now posts every Tuesday how many days it takes to get a visa interview in each of the major cities in China."
Those in the industry say it could still take years to turn tens of thousands of China visitors annually into hundreds of thousands, but the visa and airline focus is a starting point.
