Power in the Pacific: Outrigger enterprises is gearing up to continue the expansion of its lodging empire in Hawaii and beyond. (Cover Story: Hawaii).(Cover Story)

Travel Agent, October, 2002 by Foster, Camie

Fifty-five years ago the completion of a 50-unit hotel in Waikiki marked a sea change in Hawaii's tourism industry. The five-story walkup was the first property constructed in Waikiki in 20 years, but it was the start or what eventually would be known as Outrigger Enterprises, a family-owned lodging empire that is now expanding into other destinations in the South Pacific. More hotels followed as Roy and Estelle Kelley created a network of affordable hotels that thrived as Hawaii grew into a magnet for tourism.

Hawaii became a state in 1959, the same year jet travel was introduced ...