Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Tuesday, July 29, 1997

Hawaii tour packager
splitting up company

One of the state's largest tour packagers for Japanese visitors is splitting up.

Vita USA Co. will cease operations Sept. 30 and will divide its local and Los Angeles offices between its general partners Hankyu Express USA Inc. and Tokyu Travel America Inc.

Vita, which was founded about four years ago, employs 130 workers in Hawaii and 27 in Los Angeles. Most workers will be retained by either Hankyu Express or Tokyu Travel, Tetsuo Kai, Vita's general manager, said through an interpreter.

Kai said the separation was a business decision that was made in Japan. Both Tokyu Travel and Hankyu Express have operated in Hawaii for more than a decade before forming Vita.

Kai said that Vita is probably the fourth largest tour packager for Japanese visitors, behind JTB Hawaii Inc., Kintetsu International Express Inc. and NTA Hawaii Inc.

Building contracts
rise 1% in Hawaii

Total contracts for future construction in Hawaii rose 1 percent for the first six months of 1997.

F.W. Dodge, a McGraw-Hill Cos. division that tracks construction activity nationwide, said yesterday that $822 million worth of construction contracts were made statewide during the first half of 1997, up from $817 million in the year-earlier period.

Commercial construction, which includes office, hotel and retail building, led the way with $353.2 million in contracts, a 14 percent increase. Residential construction was down 3 percent to $338.9 million.

Construction on roads, sewers, water systems and other public improvements fell 16 percent to $129.9 million.

CompuServe restricts
adult-material access

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio -- CompuServe Corp., the second largest online service, said today it will move its adult-oriented materials into areas that children can't tap into.

The company said it will place adult chat rooms, games and other materials into a new Adult Community area starting Aug. 5. Only members with passwords and proof of age will be able to access the area.

CompuServe said it will segregate content only from its flagship online service and not the World Wide Web.

The decision follows a change by online rival Prodigy Inc. last week that blocks members from trying to view child pornography.