There has been much discussion about transforming Hawaii tourism over the past year or so — and some of the proposed new directions have caused a lot of anxiety. One particular point of concern has been the decision by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) to seek a single contractor to manage both U.S. marketing and destination management. That is a dramatic change from the past — and change is always difficult.

The move to a single contract as well as other changes made by the HTA didn’t come out of the blue. They were set in motion by the 2020-2025 Hawaii Tourism Authority Strategic Plan adopted in January 2020. This groundbreaking plan was developed in response to a broad call for change and laid out a deliberate shift in HTA’s direction to provide more emphasis on destination management and, very importantly, to develop a new integrated destination management system.

Integration of all HTA’s functions across its four pillars (community, natural resources, Hawaiian culture and branding) is critical for the success of Hawaii tourism because tourism, by its nature, is complex. Addressing tourism’s complexity requires HTA to find new ways to break down barriers and address tourism holistically.

Once in place, the HTA strategic plan generated new thinking and new initiatives. For the first time, community-based destination management plans (DMAPs) were launched in 2021. In 2021 HTA also for the first time issued a request for proposals that combined U.S. marketing and destination management into a single contract to be managed by a single organization. This is consistent with the strategic plan’s vision to take the different functions of HTA out of their silos, recognizing that community, culture, resources and Hawaii’s brand are all interconnected.

Some have argued that combining marketing and management functions flies in the face of conventional wisdom — and it does. Conventional wisdom, though, isn’t what’s needed when creating transformative change. Marketing has been separately contracted for years and marketing’s conventional role has been primarily focused on promoting travel to Hawaii. But, the role of marketing needs to move beyond simply bringing more bodies to the islands. With the new strategic plan and its dramatic strategic shift, there is a clear need to create a new model that synchronizes the promotion of Hawaii with the care for our aina and our communities.

The tools of marketing (social media, advertising, public relations and others) can be effectively coupled with management tools (access management, controls, fees, signage and others). Synchronizing marketing and management through the work of a single contractor ensures a seamless approach to fully realizing HTA’s vision of “malama Hawaii” … from targeting the mindful traveler, communicating the concept of malama as part of the brand, properly incorporating cultural content, setting pre-arrival expectations, post-arrival education and messaging, ideally all the way through to developing a post-departure relationship.

An expanded view of the marketing/management relationship can effectively apply marketing tools to support our communities by promoting cultural practices, local festivals, farm-to-table operations, artisans, and more. Just one example of the potential for marketing/management integration is the development of the “Pop-Up Makeke” program that created a marketplace for hundreds of Hawaii small businesses and promoted local products for kama‘aina and visitors alike.

The HTA 2020 strategic plan envisioned transformative change and opened the door to new directions. Putting marketing back into a disconnected box would be a step backward.

Frank Haas is a consultant for strategic planning, hospitality and tourism in Hawaii and internationally; he is an adviser to the Kilohana Collective, a group working with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement in its bid for an HTA contract.