Hawaii Tourism Authority awards U.S. contract to Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

Hawaii Tourism Authority announced today that it has selected the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement for a multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract to take over U.S. brand management and global support services.

The new contract will begin June 30 and is slated to end Dec. 31, 2024, with an option to extend the contract for an additional two years. The award came out of HTA’s second request for proposals selection process for its USA contract, which was awarded last year and rescinded.

The latest request for proposals went out on April 15. HTA said the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement was selected after finalists were determined, and presentations were made to an evaluation committee comprised of HTA, community and industry leaders.

The award means that HTA’s largest and highest-funded contractor, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, has lost its most-lucrative contract, which supplies the agency with destination management services and promotes Hawaii to the U.S. market. The five-year contract, worth $105 million, expired Dec. 31.

Over the course of its tenure as HTA’s main contractor, HVCB had become a powerful private, nonprofit member-based organization overseeing tens of millions in HTA contracts.The bureau currently oversees more than $25.5 million in contracts, including an $8.5 million contract extension to its previous USA contract that began Jan. 1 and is slated to end June 29.