Hawaii Governor Ige returns from ‘productive and successful’ trip to Japan

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Hawaii Governor David Ige returned from Japan after a productive and successful first international trip as governor.

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Hawaii Governor David Ige returned from Japan after a productive and successful first international trip as governor.

In 3.5 days, Gov. Ige attended 19 meetings and events, including a productive 30 minute meeting with Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The governor and Chief of Staff Mike McCartney also met with various travel industry partners and leaders and a range of corporations and businesses to discuss tourism to Hawai‘i, easing access to the Hawaiian Islands through the pre-clearance program, and a variety of ways to boost economic and business development in the Hawaiian Islands.

“It was a positive, insightful and successful trip. We were welcomed with aloha and reminded that Japan and Hawai‘i’s businesses and communities share similar values. Our relationship with Japan is extremely important and these face-to-face meetings were essential. Japan and Hawai‘i already have strong economic, cultural and education ties and we intend to build upon those ties and relationships as we look toward the future,” said Gov. Ige.

First Lady Dawn Ige joined the governor on this trip to Japan, where she visited a sister-city school in Chigasaki as a representative of the State of Hawai‘i. Students from the school are planning to visit Hawai‘i next year.

Japan is the state’s number one international market with up to 19 flights a day from six cities to the Hawaiian Islands, bringing in an annual 1.5 million visitors who spend about $2.5 billion a year. That results in $260 million in state tax revenue.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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