This Week Hawaii, the state's oldest and largest visitor publication, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year with the launch of an expanded hybrid media initiative that introduces enhanced digital tracking tools for advertising partners. Founded in 1966, the magazine has grown from a single publication into a network producing more than 1,300 pages of curated content annually across Oahu, Maui, Big Island, and Kauai.
The anniversary marks a significant milestone for a brand that has evolved alongside Hawaii's tourism industry. When the first issue was printed six decades ago, Hawaii's visitor industry was a fraction of its current scale. The publication addressed a need for a trusted, locally produced guide to help travelers orient themselves and connect with each island's culture, geography, and businesses. That mission remains unchanged today, according to General Manager Ed Chung.
"Reaching this 60-year milestone is a reflection of the trust that travelers and local businesses have placed in us since 1966," Chung said. "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."
In 2005, This Week Hawaii launched its digital platform, thisweekhawaii.com, extending the brand's reach beyond print. Today, the platform operates as part of the Hagadone Media Group and combines traditional print advertising with digital placements, QR codes, and trackable engagement metrics. This hybrid model gives local businesses data-informed visibility alongside the tangible presence of a printed guide.
A key structural distinction of This Week Hawaii 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. This approach means a traveler picking up the Kauai edition receives content shaped by people who understand the Na Pali Coast differently than someone writing from Honolulu. Each edition carries local nuance that a centralized newsroom could not replicate.
Print editions continue to be distributed through airports, hotels, resorts, and visitor centers across the state, reaching travelers at the moment they arrive. QR codes on print materials connect readers directly to digital content, enabling businesses to track engagement and measure advertising performance. For family-run restaurants, activity operators, and cultural experiences that have partnered with the publication across generations, this model offers continuity alongside evolution.
The implications of this announcement are significant for Hawaii's visitor industry. As travel patterns shift and digital engagement becomes increasingly important, This Week Hawaii's hybrid model provides local businesses with measurable returns on advertising investments. The ability to track engagement through QR codes and digital analytics allows smaller operators to compete more effectively with larger competitors. For travelers, the expanded digital tools mean easier access to curated, island-specific content that enhances their experience.
What distinguishes a 60-year publishing legacy is not simply longevity -- it is the accumulation of trust. Travelers who visited 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, formats, and four distinct island communities is what the milestone represents. As This Week Hawaii enters its seventh decade, its 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.
