Six decades after its founding in 1966, This Week Hawaii marks its 60th anniversary 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. The milestone underscores the publication's evolution from a simple print magazine into a comprehensive digital platform that continues to serve as Hawaii's cultural compass for travelers.
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 publication addressed a specific need: a trusted, locally produced hawaii visitor guide that could orient travelers and connect them with the culture, geography, and businesses of each island.
In 2005, This Week Hawaii launched its digital platform, thisweekhawaii.com, extending the brand's reach beyond the physical page. Rather than replacing print, the digital expansion created an integrated model where both formats operate in parallel. Today, the platform functions as part of the Hagadone Media Group and combines traditional print advertising with digital placements, QR codes, and trackable engagement metrics.
"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. This structure ensures that each edition carries local nuance that a centralized newsroom could not authentically replicate, positioning This Week Hawaii as a cultural bridge rather than a conventional hawaii travel guide.
Print editions continue to be distributed through airports, hotels, resorts, and visitor centers across the state, reaching travelers at the moment they arrive. Alongside each print placement, QR codes connect readers directly to digital content, enabling businesses to track engagement and measure advertising performance. For businesses that have partnered with This Week Hawaii across generations, 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 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, across formats, and across four distinct island communities is what the milestone represents. As This Week Hawaii enters its seventh decade, its editorial teams continue the work that began in 1966: helping visitors find their footing in one of the most distinct places on Earth.
