For more than 50 years, Tihati Productions have been doing their business in Hawaii.
Tihati Productions Back On Track After 10 Months Of No Business
The co-owner of Tihati Production, Afatia Thompson, said that many people visit Hawaii to enjoy the sun and surf around, but they also come here to know a little bit about the history and culture of Hawaii. The company has been popular for entertaining guests with their entertainment stuff over the years, but these shows educated people culturally about Hawaii; hence these shows are much more than just entertainment.
They perform things that are not only entertaining, authentic and also culturally appropriate. Thompson said this as he was explaining what makes their lu’au so unique. For over 50 years of the family business, one thing that has been the business’s driving factor is authenticity. This company was started in 1969 by Misty Tufono’s parents and Afatia Thompson.
Before starting this company, the owners were two kids who had completed their high school and were serving the role of the proud products of Farrington High School. The owner had a passion for entertaining people and for telling mo’olelo of the people of Hawaii. This is Thompson’s explanation of how the business’s idea came into their mind. Since Afatia and Misty had grown up around the stage, so performing was in their blood.
Tufono revisiting her childhood memories said she used to complete her homework in the dressing room under the dressing spots. She grabbed her dinner from the buffet.
Now in 2021, Tihati Productions has become the largest company in the entertainment sector in Hawaii. They put 56 shows every week in Maui, Oahu, Big Island and Kauai before the pandemic began till March 2020.
You can easily hear the music from the road and the beaches in the evening. At the time when fire knife dancers got up to perform, there was a crowd of spectators here and there. Tufono said this going over the details of what a typical night at the Hawaii island could be due to their luau.
But as soon as the pandemic hit the islands, everything changed.
Our group of 463 employees and more than 500 independent contractors had nothing to do during the lockdown. Afa said that those 56 shows per week had become zero there on the island. It risked the lives of hundreds of artists, musicians, warehousemen, drummers and technicians who had no source of livelihood. This is as Tufono explained how the virus and shutdowns have affected the employees and their income.
For Tihati productions, the business has completely dried up for more than 10 months, and the family had zero income for paying the bills. They have warehouses everywhere and offices on every island where they perform. So they had to pay bills every month in spite of all their shows having been put off. The year 2020 has been brutal for many businesses, but Tihati Productions are holding up.
Thompson said this year they plan to spring their business back into action and want to put up their shows, which are not the best but entertaining as much as possible.
Misty and Afatia hope this year to be fulfilling and hopeful for their business. They have already reopened our shows from November 2020. One is on the Big Island, and three on Maui.
Since starting their operations in November, they have collaborated with many hotels and luckily, they have no incidents. When people work together with responsibility and care, they can reopen their businesses in a very responsible manner, and everyone will be able to work properly and safely, Tufono said. Now they are planning to reopen shows on Oahu in the future.