It was the summer of 1958 and Waikīkī was bustling with Hawaiian Airlines flight attendants and travel experts from around the country. Hawaiian, which sponsored the American Society of Travel Agents conference, deployed a select cluster of lively employees to welcome hundreds of attendees amid the rise of tourism in the Islands.
These Hawaiian Airlines ambassadors, known as our Promo Team, were a group of camera-ready stewardesses and sales agents who represented our airline when they weren’t welcoming guests onboard our Convairs and DC-3s or working at our Honolulu-based headquarters. They made their appearance in dazzling white dresses accented with red carnation lei and straw hats wrapped with a bright red Hawaiian Airlines ribbon.
Throughout the conference, the team promoted travel to the Neighbor Islands and hosted complimentary showings of our company produced travel films.
The ambassadors would also join the fun at the conference’s big finale at Kapi‘olani Park, which featured hula dancing, a luau, surfing lessons, canoe rides, carnival rides, and a tethered hot-air balloon lifted into the air for sightseeing.
