Tovin Lapan
Richard Holland was a skilled at rolling with the punches over his 20-year tenure as the Oahu-based manager of And You Creations. This helped him be ready for the Covid-19 crisis, which would determine whether he would stay in business or go out of business.
He took over Dolphins and You in 1999, which was a bed and breakfast located on Oahu's West Coast that offered kayak tours to dolphins. The operation was to be run by Holland, while an American mainland investor bought the business from the founder. The investor had a quick change of heart, and three months later, he walked away from the property. Holland was informed by him that he would keep his customer's name and mailing list.
Holland was determined to continue his kayak tours from Makaha Beach Park. He stayed in a "shack near the B&B" during the week to be able to keep the tour going and fly home to Maui for the weekends. Holland's wife, Holland, is Japanese and speaks Japanese. He started to reach out in Waikiki for tourists from the Pacific Rim countries. He soon increased his number of kayaks from three to more than a dozen in order to meet the demand.
He said, "It just took off." "Somehow, we got hold of that market, and the Japanese tourists just kept coming."
Holland did not have a permit to operate the business from the park. This caught the attention of the community. Holland was able to obtain a special permit for the launch of kayaks from the beach, but it was not renewed after one year.
He then flipped again and bought a boat from an old fisherman who was looking to retire.
Holland stated, "I thought that we were going to close down." Holland said that Holland thought they were going to close down. But a fisherman came knocking on our doors and made everything better. We put a kayak rack in the back of our boat and launched from it. The whole thing is alive. Something keeps us going when we feel like we are losing our way.
The company expanded to offer two custom boats and a range of tours including a Manoa Falls hiking trip and Oahu circle island tour. When Hawaii opened to tourism at the close of 2020, however, the pandemic restrictions severely limited tour capacity and stopped travel from Japan. Japan was the source of about half of the company’s customers. Holland looked again to be creative, rather than just cashing out.
He had already brought his son Shanti to the business. Shanti had worked his way up from tour guide and manager to become the president of the company. Holland asked his son for suggestions as tourists began to arrive in the Aloha State at beginning of 2021. "A rave," Shanti said.
And You Creations created a Waikiki sunset party cruise called Ocean and You to help recover from the pandemic. It was sold out in the spring and summer months. Photo credit: Courtesy Of And You Creations
They launched the Waikiki party cruise Ocean and You. This is a sunset excursion featuring a DJ and up to 55 guests. The boat has an elaborate sound- and light system.
Richard Holland stated, "By March, we were bombarded." "It was all revenge tourism people -- after being in prison for a year, they were pissed and went crazy. We sold out months ahead of time."
With the party cruise industry slowing down in the fall, And You Creations will soon launch its latest tour to maintain momentum.
The company's first whale-watching tour, Whales and You, will be launched on Dec. 1. It will feature an onboard naturalist. The company will offer guests the opportunity to hear whale calls through an underwater microphone and a hula show.
He said that once the whale season ends in April, plans will be made to do a snorkel- and turtle-viewing trip. This refers to the natural migration pattern of humpback whales from North America to Hawaii during the winter months.
Even the core product of the company, swimming with dolphins tours (which launched it), has had to adapt to changing times.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced new rules in September that prohibit swimming with spinner dolphins from Hawaii.
Holland stated that they were prepared for the changes. Holland said, "We knew this would happen. We've known it for years. We made the boat suitable for viewing when we built it. This allows us to easily switch from swimming to viewing. The boat has water slides, kayaks, and other amenities that have helped us expand our customer base. With swimming, the funnel was small. Now with viewing, anyone can come.
The new regulations allow dolphin swimming beyond two nautical mile offshore to be permitted. Holland stated that he is trying charter tours during warmer months, when the ocean is calmer, to allow him to take small groups to dolphin swimming. What looked at first like a loss for the business turned out to be a win.
He said, "Out there further offshore we're experiencing something we've never seen before, such as encountering pilot whales." Two days ago, we saw 400 spotted dolphins. They are large and rarely venture into shallow waters. This was so cool.
