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The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) has decided to do something rather refreshing. No, it doesn’t involve another cocktail recipe with pineapple juice and a paper umbrella. Instead, the HTA has reached deep into its pockets and pulled out a neat US$980,000 to prop up Hawaiian culture through its Kūkulu Ola program.

That’s nearly a million dollars earmarked not for glossy ad campaigns or hotel discount vouchers, but for 26 grass-roots organisations who keep Hawai‘i’s cultural heart beating. For once, tourism dollars aren’t just chasing arrivals and room nights — they’re chasing meaning.

Caroline Anderson, interim president and CEO of HTA, summed it up nicely:

“The Kūkulu Ola program enables us to invest directly in the people and organisations who are keeping Hawai‘i’s culture thriving. These efforts enrich the lives of Hawai‘i’s residents while giving visitors an opportunity to connect more deeply with our island home.”

It’s not often you hear a tourism boss talking about “enrichment” rather than “numbers.” One almost feels like sending flowers.

What Exactly Is Kūkulu Ola?

For those of us not fluent in bureaucratese, Kūkulu Ola isn’t another glossy visitor brochure or an app to find the nearest poke bowl. It means “to build life”, and that’s precisely what it aims to do: give life, support, and longevity to the practices, languages, and rituals that make Hawai‘i more than just another dot on the tourist map.

It’s run by Kilohana, a division of the Hawaiian Council, and funds everything from hula festivals to canoe racing, language classes to food traditions. In short, if it has cultural weight, Kūkulu Ola wants to keep it standing tall.

Where the Money’s Going

Let’s take a quick island hop (no boarding pass required) to see who’s cashing the cheques.

Statewide

  • Kani a Ola is making sure mele (song and chant) remains a living art and a paying profession. They offer free workshops, performances in resort areas, and even training on royalties. Because, yes, even culture has bills.

  • Queen Liliʻuokalani Keiki Hula Festival gathers 25 hālau (hula schools) from Hawai‘i and Japan. It’s about honouring Hawai‘i’s last monarch, with more rhythmic hip action than a nightclub in Waikīkī.

Hawai‘i Island

  • E ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Kākou brings the Hawaiian language into hotels and community halls. Imagine checking into your resort and learning something more profound than “where’s the buffet?”

  • Hula Arts at Kīlauea offers free hula performances inside a national park. That’s hula with lava views, cultural immersion doesn’t get hotter.

Kaua‘i

  • Hihiakalāhau is turning a once-neglected site along the Wailuā River into a cultural sanctuary. Out go weeds, in come hale (traditional houses) and gardens.

  • Mālie Foundation Festivals honour the late Uncle Nathan Kalama with music, hula and pride. Think less tourist-trap luau, more heart and heritage.

Maui

  • Ka Hale o Ka Lā — restoring the Haleakalā Visitor Centre so tourists don’t just tick off “sunrise photo” but actually walk into culture from the foyer.

  • Kapoho Loko Iʻa Kalo and Loʻi Kalo Project is about restoring taro patches and fishponds. It is food, culture, and sustainability stirred into one ancient recipe.

Moloka‘i

  • E Hoʻi I Ka Piko Project ensures the island’s history is told by its people, not just written up by passing academics.

  • Me Ke Aloha Project blends conservation and cultural education, giving visitors more to chew on than macadamia nuts.

O‘ahu

  • Kamaʻāina Sundays at ʻIolani Palace – free cultural experiences inside the only royal palace in the US. Far better than another queue at Pearl Harbour.

  • The OHCRA Racing Program supports canoe racing – 4,600 paddlers, 15,000 supporters. It is not so much a race as a maritime army.

  • Urban Makahiki at ʻAʻala Park – reviving ancient makahiki celebrations in the middle of Honolulu. Tradition meets traffic lights.

And that’s just a sampler. All 26 programs tell the same story: Hawai‘i’s culture is thriving, and it’s not politely waiting for permission to exist.

Why Bother?

Cynics will ask: why spend nearly a million bucks on culture when hotels need guests and airlines need bums on seats? The answer is simple.

Because culture isn’t a sideshow, it’s the main act. Hawai‘i would have become another tropical stopover with beaches and palm trees without it. And the world is not short of those. What makes Hawai‘i unique is the heartbeat beneath the scenery: the chants, the canoes, the taro, the language, the hula. Strip those away, and you may as well rename the place “Generic Island Resort No. 7.”

For Visitors: More Than Souvenirs

This cultural investment isn’t just for residents. It’s also for the millions of visitors who fly in each year. But instead of selling them a “cultural package” that begins and ends with a staged hula and a buffet, HTA is helping deliver authentic experiences.

Learn to chant. Join a makahiki. Paddle a canoe. Listen to elders tell moʻolelo (stories) by torchlight. That’s tourism that lingers in the soul longer than the last mai tai.

Michelle’s Take

Let’s be blunt: US$980,000 won’t buy you a new hotel wing, nor will it fill half the planes at Honolulu Airport. But what it will buy is dignity, authenticity, and pride. It says loudly that Hawai‘i is not a theme park; it’s a cultural landscape where ancient practices meet modern visitors.

It also proves that tourism, when done right, isn’t just about economics. It can be about stewardship, respect, and handing the next generation more than a brochure.

As Anderson rightly put it, it gives residents and visitors alike the chance to “connect more deeply with our island home.”

In travel journalism, we call that a good line. In real life, it’s even better.

By Michelle Warner

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