PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech re-launch Chinese website about Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii – PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech have redesigned their Chinese-language MyHawaii website and are hosting it on a server in China to increase loading speed and content quality. They also have re-branded it using the name, HAISHA (Having Fun in Hawaii), to resonate with Chinese travelers and attract them to Hawaii.

The re-launch was facilitated in part by Tokyo-based Vector, Inc., one of the largest independent media communications firms in the Asia-Pacific region, which acquired PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech in 2017. Through its Shanghai office, Vector helped secure Chinese government approvals and licensing required to use Alibaba Cloud Web Hosting Services. The MyHawaii URL myhawaii.cn is still used to maintain the website’s following, which has grown over the past six years since the site’s initial launched.

The HAISHA Chinese-language website features stories and information about Hawaii, including daily news, cultural and outdoor activities, “must-see” attractions, retail, dining, hotels, travel planning and tips. All topics are easily accessible from the website’s menu bar displaying the words: Eat, Stay, Shop, Plan, Plan Your Trip, Coupons, and News & Events.

PacRim’s and PRTech’s team of Chinese-speaking marketing and website developers carefully chose the name HAISHA 嗨一夏 (pronounced Hi Yee Sha) meaning, “having fun in Hawaii.” Strategically, the Chinese word 嗨 is pronounced the same as HI, also the abbreviation for Hawaii. The characters (Chinese letters) in the word are symbolic:

· 嗨 in Chinese stands for a friendly greeting and is synonymous with the words, “happy,” “play,” “having fun,” and “excitement.”

· 夏 is “summer” and also is the first character of Hawaii (夏威夷) in Chinese.

PacRim Marketing Group’s and PRTech’s Chinese language digital marketing specialists provide editorial and online marketing strategy in coordination with Vector’s Shanghai and Japan offices. From offices in Hawaii, Japan, and Shanghai, they post multilingual content about Hawaii on their popular accounts on the social media platforms Sina Weibo, WeChat, and Youku to drive traffic to the HAISHA website and to improve search engine rankings, especially on Baidu, the largest search engine in China.

“Our goal is to increase awareness about Hawaii in China so travelers there will keep it top-of-mind when planning a trip,” said Pui Tse, Digital Marketing Specialist and Web Manager at PRTech. “We hope to educate Chinese travelers about Hawaii now and will add more interactive features to the website in the future, such as our multilingual hotel reservations booking system (MyRez), so potential viewers can book hotel reservations and activities as well as share their travel experiences on HAISHA.”

The re-launch is based on PacRim/PRTech’s knowledge of the Chinese market and experience providing content for and managing its MyHawaii.cn website over the past six years. PacRim Marketing Group and PRTech also own and provide travel-related content for Asian language websites in Japanese myhawaii.jp and Korean myhawaii.kr. HAISHA (myhawaii.cn) is the only website hosted in China.

“The Chinese website re-launch and hosting in China are examples of synergies and growth opportunities in tech-based digital media communications that the Vector acquisition of PacRim and PRTech provides,” Erdman said.

Since its February 2017 acquisition, PacRim Marketing Group (and PRTech) operates independently and is part of the Vector Group companies, forming its new Asia-Pacific overseas communications, PR Business, and Media Group. PacRim and Vector collaborate to create opportunities for clients by sharing best practices, resources, connections, digital PR strategies, and proprietary communications channels and platforms. Erdman continues to serve as president and chief executive officer of PacRim Marketing Group, Inc. and its sister company, PRTech, LLC.