The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA) has partnered with Kanu Hawai‘i to make it easier for visitors to search and sign up for enriching volunteer opportunities throughout the state. Travelers planning their trips in the Hawaiian Islands can now access the Mālama Hawai‘i Volunteer Dashboard at GoHawaii.com/malama, the state’s official website for visitors.
Visitors can view the Mālama Hawai‘i volunteer opportunities at GoHawaii.com/malama or GoHawaii.com/voluntourism. Opportunities to support Maui in its recovery following the August 2023 wildfires are also featured on the website. Visitors can sign up by submitting an RSVP, which generates an email to the partner who will respond with further information. Visitors can also provide monetary donations directly to the nonprofit organizations if they choose to.
A custom reporting dashboard has also been designed to track key metrics statewide and by island, including the number of volunteers who sign up and the number of service hours provided. Nāho‘opi‘i added, “HTA will gather this baseline and ongoing data of visitors participating in these volunteer opportunities, which will also minimize the burden on the organizations and community groups to collect and report the information.”
“We need to invest more in quantifiable actions that will inform whether we are making a difference when it comes to responsible and regenerative tourism,” said Keone Kealoha, executive director of Kanu Hawaiʻi. “Creating a clear pathway for visitors to actionize the Mālama Hawaiʻi message through volunteering is one way we can do that. Not only is it a positive giveback to Hawaiʻi, it’s an experience that many will say was the highlight of their visit.”
HTA and its Hawai‘i Tourism USA team launched the Mālama Hawai‘i program in 2020 during the pandemic. Since then, the private-public partnership program has grown to include 36 organizations throughout the state. Participating organizations featured on the dashboard have completed HTA’s Visitor Readiness Checklist, ensuring they have the resources and capacity for visitors to participate alongside residents.