Six decades ago, a simple print magazine began placing itself in the hands of travelers stepping off planes and into the warmth of the Hawaiian Islands. Today, This Week Hawaii marks its 60th anniversary, celebrating the milestone with the launch of an expanded hybrid media initiative that deepens the brand's reach across all four island editions and introduces enhanced digital tracking tools for its advertising partners.
Founded in 1966, This Week Hawaii has grown from a single publication into the largest visitor publication distribution network in the state, producing more than 1,300 pages of curated content annually across Oahu, Maui, Big Island, and Kauai. The new hybrid model combines traditional print advertising with digital placements, QR codes, and trackable engagement metrics, giving local businesses data-informed visibility alongside the tangible presence of a printed guide.
"Reaching this 60-year milestone is a reflection of the trust that travelers and local businesses have placed in us since 1966," said General Manager of This Week Hawaii, Ed Chung. "With more than 1,300 pages of editorial content distributed across four islands and a digital platform that launched 20 years ago, we have spent six decades earning the right to call ourselves Hawaii's visitor guide -- and we do not take that lightly."
One of the structural distinctions that has defined This Week Hawaii across its six decades is its commitment to island-specific storytelling. Rather than producing a single statewide publication, the brand maintains four print editions -- Oahu, Maui, Big Island, and Kauai -- each supported by locally embedded editorial teams who live and work within the communities they cover. This structure ensures that a traveler picking up the Kauai edition receives content shaped by people who understand the Na Pali Coast differently than someone writing from Honolulu or the mainland.
Print editions continue to be distributed through airports, hotels, resorts, and visitor centers across the state, reaching travelers at the moment they arrive and begin planning their days. Alongside each print placement, QR codes connect readers directly to digital content, enabling businesses to track engagement and measure advertising performance in ways that traditional print alone never allowed. For the businesses that have partnered with This Week Hawaii across generations -- family-run restaurants, activity operators, cultural experiences -- this model offers continuity alongside evolution.
What distinguishes a 60-year publishing legacy is not simply longevity -- it is the accumulation of trust. Travelers who came to visit Hawaii in the 1970s may have carried a copy of This Week Hawaii in their bags. Their children and grandchildren now access the same institution through a smartphone. That continuity across generations, across formats, and across four distinct island communities is what the milestone represents. As This Week Hawaii enters its seventh decade, the brand's editorial teams across Oahu, Maui, Big Island, and Kauai continue the work that began in 1966: helping visitors find their footing in one of the most distinct places on Earth, and connecting them with the people and places that make each island worth returning to.
