Howard Hian is a credentialed journalist, affiliated with the North American Travel Journalists Association and the International Travel Writers Alliance. He is also a long-time member of the San Diego Hotel Motel Association also serving on their Board of Directors. In February, 2012, he was presented San Diego's "Allied Member of the Year" award by the association for his ongoing contributions to the city's tourism industry through his consulting activities and travel writing for the Military Press.
Hian is a regular contributor to The Military Press, a California semi-monthly journal with a circulation of 100,000. It is distributed to active and retired military as well as defense contractors and Department of Defense personnel. Along with full-length travel features, he writes a monthly column, California - Nevada Roundup, for the publication. His travel stories are also carried by Vision Magazine. Its circulation is 90,000 and it is distributed in 1,900 locations in California, N. Arizona and Hawaii.
Hian's travel features can also be found online at Travel Savvy West.
Additionally, he is a guest commentator at On Tour with Dave and Carmel broadcasting from Sacramento, CA as well as writing for Carmel's blog, Roadtrips for Couples.
In 2012, Hian was awarded a Silver Medal in the intergenerational travel category for his Can We Go to the Rim? story and was a finalist in the history travel category for The Aztec Eagles of WW II.
In 2010, the North American Travel Journalists Association awarded Hian a First Place/Gold in the Inter-Generational Travel category for his Internet story, Houseboating with My Pirate Friends. Additionally, the Cancun CVB awarded Hian a second place prize in their international competition for his story Quintessential Quintana Roo. In December, he was named travel writer of the month for the North American Travel Journalists Association.
In 2008, Hian's Gunkholing with Cruisewest was a Merit Award winner in the Cruise Category of the North American Journalists Association's annual writing contest.
In 2007, his story, The Sabra Who Cooks Cajun, was runner up in the North American Travel Journalists Associations Awards Competition in the Personality Profile category.
Hian received an Award of Excellence in the 2004 North American Travel Journalists Associations Awards Competition. His feature, A Cocoon of Comfort, was runner up in the Travel Tips & Advice category.
In 2002, Hian received a second place honor, in the international category, for his newspaper article featuring Lisbon, Portugal from the North American Travel Journalists Association.
Hian was in the top ten of the East West Travel Network's Writers and Photographers Awards in 2000.
He has also written online for Real Travel Adventures, Just Say Go, So Go Now, OffBeat Travel, Chabad.org and TravelWorld International. The San Diego Jewish Journal featured his award winning The Sabra Who Cooks Cajun. His stories have appeared in the Columbia Daily Tribune (Missouri), Hanford Sentinel, Selma Enterprise and Kingsburg Recorder (all in California) as well as the Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, Illinois) and the Garden Island (Kauai, Hawaii).