Hawaii Tourism Authority executive’s resignation adds to departures

The Hawaii Tourism Authority on Friday announced a high-ranking personnel departure that, along with other recent departures, could exacerbate its procurement challenges.

HTA Chief Administrative Officer Keith Regan resigned from his position as the second-highest HTA executive effective Aug. 3. Regan is leaving to become business management officer at the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

“The team at the HTA is one of the most dedicated, experienced, capable and passionate teams I’ve worked with over the years. The opportunity to participate in the shift towards regenerative tourism and destination management has been one of the highlights of my time here,” Regan said in a statement. “I will miss every one of my colleagues and will cherish the experiences we’ve shared forever.”

HTA hired Regan in December 2018. He had oversight for the authority’s administrative, fiscal, procurement and human resources operations, as well as management of the Hawai‘i Convention Center.

Since the December departure of Ron Rodriguez, HTA’s senior contract specialist and procurement officer, Regan’s department had been handling procurement, most notably for the disputed U.S. tourism contract, worth tens of millions of dollars.

HTA extended the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau’s U.S. tourism contract and its global support services contract to Sept. 28 as a stopgap measure to give HTA time to sort out a procurement protest.

On June 21 the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau formally protested HTA’s June 2 decision to award a multiyear U.S. tourism contract to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement worth more than $34 million during the first two years.

HTA had previously awarded HVCB a multiyear U.S. tourism contract worth $22.5 million the first year, but rescinded it when CNHA protested in December.

HVCB lost by a wide margin this year when HTA re-solicited the U.S. brand management and global support services contracts.

HTA is still searching for a replacement for Rodriguez, who is now working for the state as a deputy attorney general.

The agency is also recruiting to replace Laci Goshi, former HTA tourism brand manager for North America, who left the agency May 20. HTA is also recruiting for three other open positions including an administrative assistant and two brand manager positions.

While HTA searches for Regan’s successor, HTA Vice President of Finance Marc Togashi will serve as acting chief administrative officer. Following a formal delegation of authority from state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism Director Mike McCartney, Togashi also will serve as HTA’s procurement officer.

Togashi has been with HTA for over a decade and had served as acting CEO during a previous leadership transition at HTA, where there have been many executive and staff departures.

“Keith has been a steady hand guiding our administrative affairs through record-setting visitor numbers, the adoption of a new strategic plan, the collapse and reemergence of the industry during the pandemic, and HTA’s move to new funding sources, procurement procedures, and reporting requirements,” HTA President and CEO John De Fries said in a statement.

De Fries, HTA’s first Native Hawaiian president and CEO, assumed the agency’s top spot in September 2020 amid pandemic-related budget cuts and tourism collapse.

De Fries replaced former HTA President and CEO Chris Tatum, who retired in August 2020 after less than two years in the highly politicized job.

Tatum had replaced George Szigeti, who was fired without cause by the HTA board in June 2018. The board’s decision followed the abrupt resignations Chief Operating Officer Randy Baldemor, who left in March 2018, and former HTA Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Dance, who left in May 2018. These executive departures where on top of many other departures by lower-ranking HTA staff members.

HTA board member Ben Rafter said HTA’s struggle to get legislative funding over the past several years has led to a tremendous amount of uncertainty and created hiring and retention challenges.

“I will miss Keith in this time of uncertainty. I worked with him very closely on the budget committee,” Rafter said.

“The only silver lining is that Marc is extremely knowledgeable about how HTA works and extremely efficient to work with,” he said.

Gov. David Ige earlier this week line-item vetoed American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery funds so that he could reallocate them to HTA.

“This is necessary because the ‘gut and replace’ procedure used to pass (House Bill) 1147 was unconstitutional,” Ige said.

HTA’s funding has been precarious since Ige announced his intent to veto HB 1147, the eleventh-­hour solution that state legislators cobbled together at the end of the session to save the agency’s $60 million annual budget.