My experiences are kind of different from most mainlanders, I guess. I have been to Hawaii 4 or 5 times, but only once was I on vacation and not working. I didn't have a lot of time to shop and I wasn't uke-aware then. The only ukuleles I remember seeing were the ones being played by the guys at the hotel patio and the ones at the Hawaiian Cultural center on Oahu.
Many people my parents age probably think Arthur Godfrey and his mahogany baritone is the traditional Hawaiian sound. Older folks from the UK, probably think its whatever George Formby or Roy Smeck played. That is what got in the movies. For many people the tradional Hawaiian sound is not the ukulele at all, but the slide guitar.