The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority Board announced today that HTA President and CEO John De Fries does not intend to seek renewal of his contract, which expires this fall.

The board announcement of De Fries’ departure, which is slated for Sept. 15, came after a more than two-hour executive session.

When the board returned to the meeting, HTA Board Chairperson George Kam said, “John has decided that he will not seek an extension of his contract that ends on Sept. 15 and the board supports his decision.”

“John has done an admirable job of fulfilling this three year-contract during the most challenging period in recent Hawaii history. At a time when we needed a strong visionary leader, a kupuna, to calmly guide us forward under troubling circumstances John was there for HTA. The transition will begin immediately,” Kam said.

Kam added that HTA Chief Administrative Daniel Nahoopii will serve as interim HTA president and CEO after De Fries’ departure. He said HTA’s governance committee will meet before an executive search for a permanent replacement begins.

De Fries began his tenure as HTA’s first Native Hawaiian president and CEO on Sept. 16, 2020, amid pandemic-related tourism cuts and a budget collapse.

De Fries, who was selected from a field of 324 candidates, was hired with an annual base annual salary of $270,000 in the first year, with an automatic 5% increase for each succeeding year of the contract. He replaced Chris Tatum, who exited his three-year contract with HTA early when he retired on Aug. 31, 2020, “to spend more time with family.”