Hawai'i's sun-and-fun reputation crashed into a political reality this week when the mayor of Detroit canceled his trip to attend a public pension conference here after he found out that Michigan TV stations were planning to send crews to Honolulu to follow him.

The cancellation was the latest example of what local industry officials refer to as the "boondoggle effect."

"Whenever you go to a resort location like Hawai'i or a Las Vegas, there will be those who would characterize it as a boondoggle," tourism analyst Joseph Toy said. "It's part of the territory."

In one of the more high-profile incidents in recent years, many members of the National Association of Counties were criticized in their hometown media for holding the organization's 2005 annual meeting in Honolulu during tight budget times.

In the latest incident, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick abruptly canceled his trip this week to the conference at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Spa.

"Mayor Kilpatrick doesn't wish to have the international body gathering in Hawai'i or their mission misrepresented," said a statement issued by press secretary Matt Allen.

"The administration has been made aware of several local television stations who have sent reporters and camera crews to Hawai'i to follow the mayor and the pension board representatives. Any distraction created by his attendance with our local media would be unfair to those present."

A 'PERCEPTION PROBLEM'

The Detroit media had earlier reported that nearly 80 delegates from Michigan planned to attend the conference, prompting questions about whether that many needed to make the trip to the island conference.

Toy said other vacation destinations also grapple with this perception problem. While the visitor industry encourages people to think of Hawai'i in their vacation dreams — proudly showing off beaches, mai tais, hula and surfing — that's not quite the businesslike image most public officials are seeking while traveling out of state, especially when taxpayers are paying the bill.

REASONS TO VISIT

The National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, a nonprofit public pension advocacy group, is sponsoring a conference this week with some seminars beginning today and the main conference running Sunday through Thursday.

Hundreds are expected to attend from across the nation.

As proof that a pension plan would anticipate such questions, the organization's Web site feature a list of the top 5 reasons the annual conference is in Hawai'i:

"5. The state of Hawai'i Employees' Retirement System, which has nearly $10 billion in assets, is a member of NCPERS.

"4. Hawai'i is a great union state. Many employees in the state are unionized

"3. The cost for attendance at the annual conference in Hawai'i are competitive with what it would cost for attendance at conferences in other top-tier cities in the U.S.

"2. Hawai'i has the facilities to host the more than 1,200 pension professionals who will attend the NCPERS annual conference.

"1. Hawai'i presents a better cost-to-value ratio than previous conference sites have provided for NCPERS."

Toy said the playful image does make luring some business here a challenge, but showing that business does get done can help. "It is an unfair characterization," he said.

SOME SEE IMPROVEMENT

Some officials think that the perception problem was worse in the 1980s.

"I think we've started to shed this a little bit, " said David Uchiyama, vice president of tourism marketing, for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. "Over time, people have realized this is a very strategic location for getting things done."

He said many conferences keep participants busy with lots of work, and that meeting planners see that they are actually able to build or increase their attendance with meetings in Hawai'i.

Uchiyama said most conference schedules reflect lots of business getting done.

"You don't have this meet-for-a-day-then-go-out-and-golf type agenda," he said. "They're running some very tough schedules."

Toy said the word is getting out that Hawai'i has thriving meeting facilities.

"We have a great convention center and hotels that have great meeting space as well," he said.

Uchiyama said he's hearing a different complaint from conference attendees. Instead of worrying about what will people think back home, "the complaint is they are coming to Hawai'i and not getting to see much of it."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.