A decision by the Hawaii Tourism Authority to award a two-year, $6.9 million Japan marketing contract to a.link LLC represents the first marketing shake-up among major contractors in eight years.

HTA announced Monday that a Japan marketing proposal from a.link, whose members include Eric Takahata, Mitsue Varley and Toshiyuki Saegusa, beat out bids from eight other marketing firms including JCompass, which had run the Hawaii Tourism Japan office since 2003.

"Our main considerations were to find what was best for the marketplace and what was best for the money," said David Uchiyama, HTA vice president of brand management. "This is the first major change that we have made to any of the major market contractors since 2003."

The new contract for Japan is renewable for up to five years and will be reviewed quarterly, Uchiyama said. Contract extensions will depend on cultivating partnerships and meeting performance goals such as arrivals and spending, airlift and media impressions, he said.

The appointment comes just a week after the HTA set aggressive new targets for Japan, its third-largest visitor market after the U.S. West and U.S. East markets. The new marketing agency is expected to help HTA meet its 2012 goal of 1.32 million visitors, a 4.1 percent increase over the 1.27 million visitors the agency has set as its 2011 goal. HTA also increased its spending goal for Japan to $2.33 billion, an 11.9 percent increase over the agency’s 2011 spending goal of $2.09 billion. Last year, 1.23 million visitors from Japan came to Hawaii and spent $1.9 billion, according to HTA data.

"The world has changed, and other destinations are becoming more aggressive," said Mike McCartney, HTA president and chief executive. "To better compete in the global marketplace, Hawaii must be more creative in our sales and marketing efforts. We are confident that a.link LLC has the right combination of expertise, knowledge, creativity and strategic approach."

HTA is also evaluating $54 million worth of marketing proposals for other major markets such as Canada, Other Asia, Oceania and Europe, Uchiyama said.

"More announcements may come this week or next," he said, adding that the agency kept its Hawai‘i Convention Center and the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau contracts in place.

HTA will look to a.link to increase arrivals and expenditures from Japan and persuade carriers to add additional airline routes, Uchiyama said.

Takahata, president of the newly formed a.link LLC, was instrumental in helping HTA offset the loss of Japan Airlines’ daily flight from Narita to Kona by working with the carrier to bring in a daily Haneda-to-Honolulu flight, he said.

"He had been working on a separate contract basis for HTA to develop relationships with Japan Airlines and restimulate business," Uchiyama said. "Through his help we were able to retain six flights and to convince the carrier to up-gage the aircraft from 767 planes to the larger 777 planes, which offer about 75 additional seats."

Takahata has more than two decades of experience in Hawaii’s visitor industry, while Varley and Saegusa have at least a decade of experience each working with entities like the Oahu Visitors Bureau and the Hawai‘i Convention Center, Uchiyama said.

The new contractor’s strong relationships with the travel industry in Hawaii and Japan and with other industries like entertainment, sports, airlines and the meetings and convention market will help the HTA bring new momentum to a mature visitor market, he said.

"We’ll see much more cooperative advertising rather than Hawaii funding the whole campaign," Uchiyama said. "A.link will be bringing more partners into the mix."

Uchiyama said a.link also will use more social media and targeted marketing similar to the blitz campaigns that have yielded results for HVCB in North America.