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There’s nothing quite as nostalgic as flipping through the pages of a holiday catalog to find the perfect gift for that special someone. Hawaiian Airlines is ringing in this merry season with a nod to the yesteryears through its third annual HawaiianMiles Holiday Catalog, a digital shopping guide featuring over 30 HawaiianMiles partners that offer Hawaiʻi-inspired gifts for every unique personality, from the adventurer to the trendsetter.

 

Shoppers can earn up to 10 miles per dollar spent with a Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® or Bankoh Hawaiian Airlines® Visa® Debit Card, and HawaiianMiles members can redeem miles to purchase gift cards or earn bonus miles with select specialty partners.


LAU HALAdays: A Nod to a Revered Cultural Practice

In true Hawaiʻi fashion, the holidays wouldn’t be complete in the Hawaiian Islands without the time-honored tradition of ulana (weaving) lau hala (hala tree leaves). The creative team behind the catalog found inspiration in a design rooted in ulana lau hala, a cultural art that stems back to Hawaiʻi’s ancient times. Polynesians first voyaged to the Hawaiian Islands with lau hala sails and continued to use the material for everything from sleeping mats to storage boxes to clothing. Today, local artisans practice ulana lau hala with great reverence, patience and mastery.

Lau hala weaving
Credit: Hawaiʻi State Archives/Pan-Pacific Press Bureau
Children watching a weaver strip lau hala in Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi

 

“Lau hala was the perfect pillar for this year’s holiday catalog design concept,” said Emily Matsuno, a digital designer at Hawaiian, who got the idea during a casual conversation with the airline’s community and cultural relations team. “It’s an iconic tradition carrying significance across the Pacific Islands and is a heritage craft that resonates with everyone, no matter where they live.”

The creative team spent months designing a catalog that paid homage to ulana lau hala while serving as a global platform for local businesses. Some even traveled to Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi, hoping to visit a selection of small shops dedicated to lau hala craftsmanship.

Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona
A selection of lau hala items and holiday ornaments showcased at the Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona conference.

 

“We were eyeing the historic Kimura Lauhala Shop in Hōlualoa, but it was closed when we arrived,” said Sachie Yorck, a copywriter at Hawaiian. “As luck would have it, the neighboring business owner saw our disappointment and told us that the Kimuras weren’t far — Renee was attending Ka Ulu Lauhala O Kona, the 25th annual lau hala conference at Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa, just 10 minutes away.”

Yorck recalled, “It was quite the happy accident. We found dozens of energetic weavers crafting together and sharing their generations-old techniques when we arrived. We bought two bags of lau hala from Alice Kawamoto and her daughters who source their hala leaves from trees on their property.”

IMG-3085
The creative team's haul of lau hala items from Kona for the 2022 HawaiianMiles Holiday Catalog.

 

Many decorative pieces featured throughout the catalog, including the twinkling stars, the snowman, the Christmas tree, the stocking, and more, came from the accidental trip to the lau hala conference. Hala trees and lau hala can also be found in the background of many of the partner product shots.


A Meaningful Way to Connect Communities and Businesses

The HawaiianMiles Holiday Catalog first came to life in 2020 as local entrepreneurs were wrestling with the economic grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. Brighson Tolentino, card and travel products specialist at Hawaiian Airlines, said the idea came from wanting to provide relief to Hawaiʻi businesses.

“I remember, that fall, we came together as a team and brainstormed how to help these businesses, especially our local partners, and drive revenue to their stores,” he said. “The outcome was the annual HawaiianMiles Holiday Catalog, which has become a vehicle to drive more business to the wide variety of shopping and dining partners during the busiest time of the year and generate awareness among our HawaiianMiles members.”

Local Motion
Hawaiian Airlines teamed up with Local Motion Hawaii on an exclusive t-shirt design, just in time for the holiday season,

 

Each year brings a new look and feel to the retail catalog, and when Hawaiian’s creative team proposed its lau hala concept, it struck a deep chord for Tolentino.

“When I was a kid, my grandma would have me help her with craft fairs. She would have me clean out lau hala leaves, dry them, and weave them into a Christmas ornament. So, when the creative team presented the idea, it was very sentimental to me,” he said.

Mana Up Before After
Many products in the catalog were showcased with lau hala products purchased in Kona and/or shot in areas with native ferns or hala trees, including the Royal Hawaiian Resort in Waikīkī.

 

Tolentino also explained that lau hala plays a role in presenting gifts, which led the team to do something novel for the catalog launch: introduce an exclusive partnership with Wrappily, a Maui-based sustainable wrapping paper company.

“A wrapping paper partnership is something we’ve never done before,” said Matsuno. “We worked with the business owner to produce a two-sided design – one with a realistic lau hala print and the other with a hala tree pattern. The partnership was another way to support a local entrepreneur, spread holiday cheer, and honor the lifecycle of hala.”

Wrappily Before After
Matsuno (shown left) photographing a lau hala mat at the Hawaiian Airlines headquarters for the carrier's exclusive Wrappily two-side hala design (shown right)

 

Tolentino added, "I'm proud of my colleagues for working hard on this year's catalog. It does a beautiful job of sharing elements of Hawaiian culture while encouraging folks around the world to engage with Hawai'i and support the islands' businesses. "


Enter for a Chance to Win

The 2022 HawaiianMiles Holiday Catalog is available until Dec. 31, 2022.

Those who use a Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® or Bankoh Hawaiian Airlines® Visa® Debit Card while shopping with a HawaiianMiles Marketplace partner featured in the catalog will be entered for a chance to win up to 250,000 HawaiianMiles.* (Psst…each purchase equals one entry!). For rules and eligibility, visit www.HawaiianAirlines.com/Catalog-Sweepstakes.

Sweepstakes

 

On behalf of the entire Hawaiian Airlines ʻohana,

happiest of LAU HALAdays to you and yours!

 


** No purchase necessary.  Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18 years or older or age of majority & are Hawaiian Airlines® Mastercard® and Bankoh Hawaiian Airlines® Visa® Debit Card cardholders as of 11/24/22, with an account in good standing through the end of the promotion period. Starts 12:00:01 am HST on 11/25/22 and ends 11:59:59 pm HST on 12/31/22. For rules, visit https://www.hawaiianairlines.com/social/holiday-catalog-sweepstakes-rules. Sponsor: Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.

The Hawaiian Airlines® World Elite Mastercard® is issued by Barclays Bank Delaware (Barclays) pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated. Mastercard, World Elite Mastercard, and World Elite Mastercard are registered trademarks, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard International Incorporated.

The Bankoh Hawaiian Airlines® Visa® Debit Card is issued by Bank of Hawaii, VISA is a registered trademark of Visa International Service Association and used under license.