COURTESY PHOTO
Karen Hughes, Hawaii Tourism Authority’s vice president of marketing and product development, has given the organization notice that she intends to leave at the end of September.
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The Hawaii Tourism Authority will soon have another high-profile vacancy, with the departure of its top marketing official.
Karen Hughes, HTA’s vice president of marketing and product development, has given the organization notice that she intends to leave at the end of September.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve the tourism industry and am proud of our team’s accomplishments over a short period of time to ensure the marketing of Hawaii continues to evolve and remain relevant in reaching today’s global traveler,” Hughes said. “I have made the difficult decision to move on after careful consideration of how and where I can most successfully put my professional experience to work. I look forward to staying connected to Hawaii’s tourism industry and positively contributing to it in the years to come.”
HTA President and CEO Chris Tatum said Hughes’ job will be advertised in the next few weeks, but that she’ll be at the agency long enough to help review request for proposals on several marketing contracts.
“She’s done a great job of aligning all of our contractors with our vision of balanced tourism and with our branding efforts,” Tatum said.
Hughes, who began work on Dec. 17, replaced former Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Dance, who left in May 2018. According to the terms of Hughes’ contract, her base salary was $200,000. She also got a one-time incentive bonus of $30,000 that stipulated that she would have to return $15,000 of it to HTA if she did not stay employed at HTA for two years.
Hughes was a Hawaii tourism industry veteran of nearly 20 years. Her past experience includes serving as vice president of Meet Hawaii and travel industry partnerships for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and as a regional vice president for sales and marketing for Starwood Hotels &Resorts. In her role at HTA, Hughes focused on tourism marketing strategy and planning, tourism industry research, development of new experiences, and administering and coordinating tourism programs that support leisure and group travel.
