SOME SAY WE SHOULD READY OURSELVES FOR A HISPANIC WAVE
By Phil Hayworth -- The Garden Island

Hispanics are here, and their numbers are growing each day. There's no arguing that fact, regardless of Hawaii visitor statistics and U.S. Census data indicating that Hispanics barely register on Hawaii's radar.

Indeed, one local Hispanic business and travel advocate argues that, if you think logically, Hispanics are one of the fastest-growing groups coming to Kaua‘i as visitors and new residents — and that Kaua‘i should be ready for them.

"Every major business is doing business with the Latins," said Eduardo Valenciana, founder of Tres Hermanos de Kaua‘i, a Kaua‘i-based Spanish-language Internet information company. "Our island desperately needs to change direction from looking East to Asia, to looking south to Mexico and beyond." Valenciana admits he can't verify Hispanics are, indeed, the fastest growing group here, but that's hardly his fault. Hispanics are nearly invisible here, except for the 8,724 Kaua‘ians who identified themselves as Hispanic in the 2000 census, or the handful who work in Kaua‘i's guava, coffee and construction industries. State tourism figures don't help much, because they don't factor for ethnicity, but, rather, region, state and country of origin.

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