The Hawaii Tourism Authority has weathered a few stormy years confronting state lawmakers who, frustrated by its managerial lapses, stood on the brink of largely dismantling the agency.
The storm clouds have lifted, with both the state House and Senate poised to lock in appropriations of $60 million or more, which is more stability for the authority than it’s seen in a while. This is a good thing, for a couple of reasons.
One is that, with Hawaii’s post-pandemic tourism recovery, paired with the crippling blow of Maui’s wildfire tragedy last year, the state really needs a standalone agency that can steer its core industry with a clear focus.
The other is that there has been a crucial change in the mission of HTA. The authority has pivoted to sustaining the industry both economically and environmentally — bringing in visitors while preserving Hawaii’s most cherished assets: the islands’ natural and cultural resources.
So the fact that both chambers of the Legislature seem poised to restore permanence to HTA funding is encouraging, with one big caveat: This needs to be HTA 2.0, a version that has strengthened its accountability for how it spends taxpayer funds to achieve that newly broadened mission.
The authority was established in law in 1998 by legislators who agreed it was needed to rev up tourism after the sagging Japanese economy had cut into the prospects for tourism in Hawaii, one of the favorite destinations of Japanese visitors.
Over the years, however, attentions turned elsewhere, and the agency became sloppy. Among the multiple state audits was the one issued in 2018, subtitled “More Autonomy, Less Accountability.” Its procurement and oversight of contracts was central to the critique in the audit, which faulted HTA for reimbursing contractors for extravagant expenses, sometimes without documentation.
In its recommendations, the audit proposed an updating of internal policies and procedures, including those identifying the managers and staff responsible for procurement and requiring better contract oversight.
It also suggested that lawmakers “consider additional legislative oversight of HTA to increase transparency of the Authority’s spending and ensure more accountability.”
Legislators were happy to oblige, starting with fiscal concerns: The agency’s budget was cut from $82 million to $79 million that same year.
In a subsequent effort to address growing criticism that it was enabling overtourism, HTA adopted a strategic plan defining “four pillars” to guide its visitor-industry strategy: natural resources, Hawaiian culture, community, and brand marketing.
This was a welcome rethinking of the true challenge of tourism management, which is to keep it in balance with the very treasures that attract people to Hawaii in the first place. Its natural beauty and its rich native culture require care, and the marshalling of resources is needed to keep them safe.
But that effort did not stave off HTA’s problems. In 2021, the real fight began at the state Capitol. At issue was the agency’s fumbling of contracts for its marketing and destination management goals, with the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau competing with the Council on Native Hawaiian Advancement for the same lucrative award.
In the firestorm that followed, lawmakers zeroed out HTA’s appropriation. Gov. David Ige cobbled together funds to keep the authority alive, but its future has been in doubt ever since. Last session, measures that proposed repealing HTA moved briskly until they finally stalled in conference committee.
Now the repeal bills are almost certainly dead, which should come as a relief to a state that relies on tourism as foundational to its economy. There were undoubtedly deep problems at HTA, but simply relegating it to a division of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism would not by itself achieve the delicate balance Hawaii needs.
HTA has emerged intact — and reassured lawmakers — under the guidance of HTA board Chair Mufi Hannemann, and HTA interim CEO Daniel Naho‘opi‘i and Finance Vice President Isaac Choy. Staying on a fiscally responsible, pillars-focused leadership path will be necessary.
What is disappointing is that Gov. Josh Green’s proposal for a $25 visitor fee also appears dead. The so-called “green fee” could help fund the maintenance and nurturing of Hawaii’s resources, key to the state’s destination-management strategy.
The Legislature must reconsider its reticence to pass such a fee, or find some other way to finance upkeep. There is Senate Bill 3006 still alive, which would give the HTA rights to lease or sell naming rights for the Hawaii Convention Center, which desperately needs to address its leaky roof and deferred maintenance.
Rightly, the authority is looking for measured ways to progress toward its goals. On Friday, HTA announced a partnership with the volunteerism nonprofit Kanu Hawai‘i to post a Malama Hawaii volunteer dashboard at GoHawaii.com/malama. To malama Hawaii — care for these islands — is everyone’s job, visitors as well as residents.
But such small-scale efforts can only work if HTA is given permanence and the funding that long-term planning requires. Putting a more robust HTA at the helm, one that’s accountable to the public, could help ensure success.
