Tourism authority winnows list in CEO hunt

The Hawaii Tourism Authority, which has been searching for a new president and chief executive officer since November, has narrowed its global search to seven candidates.

The agency declined to identify the candidates on Wednesday due to nondisclosure agreements.

A global search that ended Feb. 4 resulted in 23 applicants from Hawaii, the U.S. mainland and abroad.

"The search committee met and reviewed the 23 applicants and short-listed them to seven," said HTA Board President Aaron Sala.

Sala said in the final stages the committee plans to bring just one candidate to the board for its approval.

In the meantime, Ron Williams, former HTA board chairman, will continue serving as interim chief executive officer of the agency. Williams, who is president and chief executive officer of Atlantis Adventures, agreed to temporarily fill the void created when Mike McCartney became chief of staff for Gov. David Ige.

While the HTA did not advertise the position’s salary range, McCartney’s last contract specified a base salary of $270,000. Sala said the agency has spent $6,939 on recruitment for the position.