Citing mismanagement and noncompliance with state code, lawmakers in Hawaii this month introduced bills to replace the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), potentially changing the way the state handles tourism.
"The legislature finds that the Hawaii Tourism Authority has failed to effectively execute its duties and functions to manage the tourism marketing plan for the state," legislators wrote in Senate Bill 1522, which along with legislation introduced in the House, suggests repealing the HTA and replacing it with a new entity focused on destination management.
"Due to the mismanagement by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the award of a $34 million contract for the marketing of Hawaii as a tourism destination to the U.S. major market area has been in limbo since 2021," the bill continues.
"This situation has been widely publicized and has demonstrated the Hawaii Tourism Authority's noncompliance with the state procurement code."
In December, a director at Hawaii's State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism rescinded the awarding of the multimillion-dollar destination management and marketing contract for the U.S. market from the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. The HTA had awarded the contract to the council in June, but the move was protested by the HTA's longtime partner, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, leading to a review and eventual revocation of the contract.
To replace the HTA, the Senate bill requests that an "office of tourism and destination management" be established under the state department that manages tourism in Hawaii.
House Bill 1375, meanwhile, would create a "destination management" agency under the department, headed by a three-member commission appointed by the governor. The members would be able to develop state policies that would include brand management, tourism education and tourism promotion, and would establish contracts with consultants.
The House bill would also make the agency responsible for ensuring that "Hawaiian culture is accurately portrayed by Hawaii's visitor industry," that Hawaiian language and cultural practitioners are supported and that there's a "Native Hawaiian cultural education and training program for the visitor industry workforce.
"What I'd like to do is create a structure so that the state can provide that help to local communities, because we've done a lot for visitors in Hawaii; we've done a lot for the visitor industry in Hawaii, and I think that at long last, it's very appropriate that we start doing things for all of us," said state Rep. Sean Quinlan, who introduced the bill, at a hearing Feb. 2. "We feel very strongly about destination management, but we also feel very strongly that if HTA is to continue in whatever form it is, whether it's as HTA or a re-imagined body, it must be an independent body. It has to have its independence, free of, in some cases, legislative interference."
Response from the HTA
John De Fries, CEO of the HTA, submitted testimony highlighting that Hawaii's strong recovery was largely due to the U.S. market and that the HTA continues its work in visitor education and brand management, even throughout the contested U.S. marketing contract process.
"We recognize that the impacts of tourism are real and require management," De Fries said in a statement. "As Hawaii emerges from the pandemic, HTA continues its pivot to destination management initiated just before the onset of the pandemic. The pivot started with the adoption of our current strategic plan and was further refined in the community-generated Destination Management Action Plans for each island."
De Fries suggested that before making major structural changes to the agency responsible for managing Hawaii's visitor industry, a study be conducted on the alternative models contemplated.
Mufi Hannemann, CEO of the Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association, submitted testimony in support of a closer look at the HTA: "We feel strongly that this conversation -- which should encompass all of HTA's duties, including destination management and also visitor marketing -- is warranted and that the legislative process should be allowed to play out."
As of Feb. 8, of the two bills, HB1375 had advanced and is expected to pass its second reading. Following that, it will be sent to the House Water & Land Committee. This committee would need to hear the bill and pass it before the deadline of Feb. 16 for it to continue.