Pleasant Holidays says “Aloha” to Hawaii World

>AS SEEN IN PACIFIC COAST BUSINESS TIMES

Betsy Crowfoot July 11, 2003 -- Pleasant Holidays LLS, a Westlake Village company that has brought six-million tourists to the Hawaiian Islands, has purchased high-end tour wholesaler Hawaii World. But instead of pitting Davey against Goliath, the acquisition was described as a union long in the making.
“We didn’t have to get married, we wanted to,” said Mary Twist, who will continue as president of Hawaii World. “We have always been the twinkle in their upscale eye.” Ed Hogan, CEO and founder of Pleasant Holidays, confirmed that he has had an eye on Hawaii World for some time. “I knew Rick when he was seven years old,” said Hogan of Hawaii World founder Rick Corbett. Hogan and Corbett’s father, Jim, were colleagues at now defunct Trans-Ocean Airlines. “As time went on I could see the consolidation of businesses. I saw the dotcomms coming in and shrinking down the business of the regular travel agents,” said Hogan. “I’d call every two, three years and say, ‘Rick, if you’re ever thinking of selling …” That time came earlier this month when Pleasant Holidays, which is owned by the Automobile Club of Southern California, purchased 25-year-old Hawaii World for an undisclosed amount. Each company will continue to operate independently, with Hawaii World headquartered in Livermore, about 45 miles east of San Francisco.	Ed's tips on providing po'okela (the best) service to malihini (tourists) “A big mistake business people make is they chisel down their suppliers so much, they can’t deal with them. We don’t believe that. Never put your supplier out of business by chiseling him down. If I get good quality I will pay for it, and we have great suppliers we’ve dealt with for years and years. “We’re able to buy good because suppliers know we deliver. We put together all the components in a package and don’t destroy the integrity of their pricing. The customers don’t know how much the components cost – they just says, ‘Isn’t this a good deal?!’ You wouldn’t be able to buy all the components individually as cheaply.”
Twist denied that the sale was a result of economic factors. Instead, she said, “This is a way for us to get access to their greater resources in the area of automation and online booking.” In addition she said Hawaii World’s strength has been in upscale travel including very deluxe destinations such as Maui’s Kea Lani or Four Seasons resorts, and will lend this image to Pleasant Holidays. “This acquisition strengthens our position relative to the upper end of the Hawaii market,” said Pleasant Holidays president Tim Irwin. “Pleasant Holidays is the number one travel company to Hawaii and with the purchase of Hawaii World is now poised for further, more rapid growth.” In the 40 years since its inception, Pleasant Holidays has indeed grown to become a leading economic factor in Hawaiian tourism, sending nearly half-a-million visitors to the islands each year. The company was founded in 1959 by Ed Hogan in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, after his earlier efforts to promote the Hawaiian Village Hotel there “flopped.” “There were no jets, and Hawaii was a long ways away,” said Hogan. “Most East Coast people had relatives in Europe and went back to visit their roots.” But three years later Hogan revisited his dream of bringing people to Hawaii, when he was offered consulting work and office space in Panorama City and made a cross-country leap of faith. He developed a scheme to promote Hawaii as a destination for mainland chamber of commerce conventions, touting the trip as a membership drive. “And if you got the chamber to go, it was like getting the Good Housekeeping magazine seal of approval,” Hogan said. Pleasant Holidays would drive traffic to chamber members by making them the point-of-purchase for a Hawaii vacation contest; to further whet the appetite, Hogan would encourage newspaper advertising and even provide the editorial staff free tickets to Hawaii. It worked. Despite the 12-hour flight in a non-pressurized DC4 airplane, momentum for trans-Pacific travel was building. “People would see an Aloha shirt and think, ‘Wow, Hawaii!’ They’d hear Arthur Godfrey, or Hawaii Calls on the radio, and think, ‘Wow, Hawaii!’ It was charming, building up this exotic, South Pacific paradise. It really was, and still is.” Hogan said Hawaii remains the perfect spot for vacationing, as he made a hang loose gesture with his hand. “It’s really laid back.” “Travel is a precious thing. You work all year and now you have one or two weeks vacation time. You want no hassle; you want a quality product, with continually good service, at a proper price.” Hogan said those three keys have kept Pleasant Holidays’ business up even as economic, health and social factors have devastated other areas of the travel industry. “We had a heck of a year last year [2002]. From here [US] and Canada they’re going over plenty. We’re loaded up, running hotels at 92 percent occupancy. Europe is dead; people are really angry at France. “But Hawaii,” he said with a snap of his fingers, “that’s America. It’s safe. The next two years, you’ll see a lot more domestic travel: people going to New York, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone. They think, ‘Live today, thank God you’ve got your health and your family. Embrace it.’ People are a lot more family oriented, and also thinking, ‘Let’s take care of America. And that’s one of the benefits of Hawaii: the 50th state. Even if it is way out there.” In 1999 Pleasant Holidays sold its tour operations to the Automobile Club. “My kids were in the business but not going to take it over, and this offered solidarity and a future for our good employees who had been with us for years,” said Hogan. The family retained several properties throughout the islands, which they operate as Pleasant Travel Service. It was then that Hogan approached Hawaii World’s Corbett again. “I told him, ‘The Auto Club has a heck of a database, 46-billion all over the US, and only 10 percent of them take air trips! Let’s covert that to more and more. Together we can really do good.” Hawaii World serves 40,000 to 50,000 visitors annually. The company will continue to operate out of Livermore and maintain all existing agency agreements, as well as its’ staff of 57.
Pleasant Holidays, LLC Desc: Wholesale and retail tour operators providing air, hotel and car rental packages since 1959. Eight-percent of Pleasant Holidays’ business is to the Hawaiian Islands; the company also serves Mexico, Tahiti, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Bahamas and Caribbean. Headquarters: 2404 Townsgate Road, Westlake Village, CA 91361 Revenue: Annual sales approach $500 million. Employees: 750 employees on the U.S. mainland and in Hawaii CEO: Ed Hogan President: Tim Irwin

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