Hawaii’s largest hotel, the 2,860-room Hilton Hawaiian Village, spent $45 million to restore its guest rooms and common areas in the Rainbow Tower. The tower’s 800 guest rooms were transformed with new furnishings, carpet, bathrooms, fixtures and artwork. The corridors and elevators also received updates. The hotel has 150,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 27,000-sq.-ft. Coral Ballroom, where former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger delivered a video message at an APEC luncheon.

The host hotel for the APEC CEO Summit, the 1,637-room Sheraton Waikiki, underwent a $200 million makeover. The majority of the renovations were on the hotel’s 45,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 26,000-sq.-ft. Hawaii Ballroom, which received a $5 million update. A $13 million renovation at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa included two new restaurants, one of which went through 11 menu changes to ensure it would appeal to all 21 APEC cultures. The exterior of the 1,229-room property includes a new poolside bar, upgraded pool deck and oceanfront lounge.

Many delegates kicked off the weeklong meeting with an APEC CEO welcome reception at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. To prepare for the conference, it spent $70 million updating restaurants, common areas and all of the resort’s 529 rooms.

Read more about Disney and its meetings division at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando in Special Places: Disney meetings.

Visit Jacksonville introduced the “Double Your Dollars” group promotion that gives meeting planners a rebate of $10 per room night when they sign a contract for at least 100 room nights. Meetings must be booked by March 31, 2010 and actualized from July to Dec. 2010 and 2011.

Steinhatchee Landing Resort in Steinhatchee Landing, Fla., is offering planners of religious groups, conferences, corporate retreats and small meetings a 50 percent discount on accommodations and meeting space through June 15, 2010.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is offering a “Meetings With More” package worldwide. The package includes one complimentary guest room per 30 room nights booked and 10 percent of groups’ actual room revenue credited toward their next event for meetings booked by March 31, 2010 and held by Oct. 31, 2010.

The Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii, is offering more than 20 new incentives for meeting planners on all meetings booked and consumed in 2010. Saving opportunities include discounted Fun & Sun Activity passes, business center charges, banquet menu pricing, attrition allowances and complimentary golf. Located on the Big Island, The Fairmont Orchid features 540 guest rooms, 31,000 square feet of indoor function space and nearly 76,000 square feet of outdoor venue options.

Disney’s commitment to the west Oahu resort is promising considering the state of Hawaii’s tourism industry. Travel to the islands was projected to increase in 2009, as Hawaii celebrates its 50th anniversary of statehood. But for many, 2009 will be remembered as the year visitor arrivals plummeted and the tourism industry saw more layoffs than grand openings.

“Disney is the No. 1 brand in family vacations,” says Martha Wienert, state tourism liaison. “Combine that with Hawaii’s fabulous reputation as a family destination and there’s reason for optimism for the visitor industry.”

“The market losses are expected to continue through 2009 given the substantial challenges facing the travel industry, both in Hawaii and nationally,” says Joseph Toy, president of Hospitality Advisors.

Oahu posted the smallest occupancy loss of 1.3 percentage points to 70.6 percent, representing the highest occupancy of all islands. The Big Island’s occupancy dropped 4.4 percent to 54.9 percent.

Occupancy at luxury hotels experienced a sharp drop to 65 percent while average room rates fell to $255.