Today is the day that former Lt. Governor Josh Green is being inaugurated governor of Hawaii. Interesting times lie ahead for him, the state, and Hawaii visitors.
This week will see Hawaii travel front and center on the new governor’s agenda as he tries to resolve the long-contested Hawaii travel marketing plans before the whole mess otherwise gets aired publicly in court. He’ll have two days to head the situation off at the pass.
Incoming Governor Green is an emergency room physician working with trauma victims, organ failure, and critical health issues of patients. Will that experience transfer well to the trauma, failure, and critical needs of our travel industry? Read on and let us know what you think.
Come Wednesday, HTA (Hawaii Tourism Authority) will hold a special board meeting to try to figure out what to do next in determining who will represent Hawaii to the world and how. That comes following last week’s secret meeting between now-defunct Governor Ige and the also-defunct head of Hawaii’s tourism department. Even that meeting itself is now causing problems.
All this happens the same week as Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) holds an HTA-featured travel conference on Oahu, where you may see BOH editors.
If this ends without a heated court battle, it will be nothing short of a miracle.
The controversy resulted from the wildly contested awarding of its U.S. brand marketing contract to the travel newcomer CNHA (Council for Native Hawaii Advancement) earlier this year. That contract was supposed to start last June, but that has been delayed multiple times due to the prolonged disagreement spinning about the entire thing.
Let’s call it what it is: a very h0t mess, Hawaii-style.
To make a long story short, the award was to have gone to 120-year-old HVCB, but in a questionable second-round upset, it was given under inexplicable circumstances to CNHA.
Exiting Governor Ige and HTA head Mike McCarney got involved in last week’s meeting, even as they were lame ducks, departing office today before the whole thing could come to the next HTA vote on how to proceed.
Two directions ahead for Hawaii travel marketing?
Now officially gone from HTA as of today, McCartney planned to cancel the CNHA award and go for round three in the RFP (request for proposal) process, which would separate the contract awards into two parts, one on destination management and one on marketing. McCartney also planned to sweeten the pie by adding 18% or more to its total value. Dividing the contract might make sense, given that HVCB is experienced in marketing, whereas CNHA might be better suited to focus on Hawaii destination management.
McCartney had been working on that deal before his departure, although others in the state have said you can’t do an RFP for one contract and later split it in two.
First travel words from new Governor Josh Green.
Green, whose swearing-in takes place today, said he would rather that this all had been left to the new administration since they would inherit things that could otherwise be unmanageable. He thinks a mediation path may be the solution between the parties, although we question whether that would ever work. Green said, “I appreciate all the parties being willing to work together under the new leadership that we hope to bring. He also said, “I don’t want to delay a solution, and we need to have these teams actively promoting Hawaii… I don’t want a conflict between CNHA and HVCB. I want them to actually be partners and learn from one another.”
How this impacts Hawaii visitors?
You may think (and a number have commented) that this doesn’t impact visitors. But it clearly does. Hawaii’s brand marketing speaks to the visitors it will receive and how those visitors will see and value what Hawaii has to offer. They have been a source of valuable information to both Hawaii visitors and the travel industry alike.
What will become of the four Hawaii Visitor Bureaus?
It isn’t clear what will happen to these HVCB-operated businesses, including bureaus representing and located on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.
HVCB has long used its island specialists to help be part of the destination marketing for their respective islands. Those representatives traveled on behalf of the state to communicate Hawaii and their island within the U.S. and abroad. Visitors could also call or stop at the local office for information and help during their vacation. And the local island specialists also serve as liaisons with the business community. When writing some of our articles, we’ve consulted with their island specialists as additional resources.
What will become of CNHA if they lose the contract?
CNHA is counting on this contract. It has been reported that before Covid, the group operated on $1M in grants, but that during the pandemic, they received, last year alone, some $70M in grants. That is over now, and this deal represents the light at the end of the tunnel, it seems.
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Can’t we just pay for them both, that would be the most Hawaii government you could get.
Keep it the way it was for 120 years!!
Firstly the “Secret Meeting” that was held, and which Ige and other Officials attended, Violates the Sunshine Law/Act. Secondly, drawn up Two individual Contracts and Award Each to the Entity that Best can handle the Requirements. Thirdly the individual contracts should have language and a funding mechanism to “Educate and Cross Train” members of the Hawaiian Council to gain knowledge and needed expertise. It’s Not a perfect solution, however, it would Better Serve the State and individual islands of Hawaii. Eventually the Hawaiian Council would gain the Experience necessary to be Awarded the Entire Combined Contract with the assurance that they could completely perform every requirement as specified. Cooperation is necessary!
“Let’s call it what it is: a very h0t mess, Hawaii-style.”
Thought you were talking about Mauna Loa for a minute there.
But seriously, I’m anxious to here what’s happening here as my future Hawaii travel plans depend heavily on the outcome.
Thanks for keeping us updated.
Hi Mike.
Thanks. Those of us who live here, and others like you, are interested in this. Most visitors, however, are not. There were more than 10x more comments on yesterday’s article about Southwest’s boarding test compared with this.
Aloha.
70m in grants? To do what? Man o man.. What a gravy train.
This is the perfect example of a bureaucratic menagerie that in this day of social media & the internet is obsolete. Hawaii funded travel bureaus are little more than a dumping ground for corrupt political patronage or worse, in my opinion.
Here’s an idea! Close them all down and watch the private sector step up & have targeted markets & demographics visit the islands. You could stop 100 percent of tourism advertising tomorrow and the visitors will still come. Hawaii is that beautiful, that unique.
Those hotels & resorts with resources to promote themselves will do so – they don’t need help from the State. Private entities that support eco-tourism and conservation will still do what they do best and Hawaii will be all the better for it
Imagine what $70 million could have done towards building Affordable Housing! Then moving forward since that how much more money has been Budgeted that could have been applied to Building additional Affordable Housing? Does Hawaii really need a Budget of this size every year? No! As you’ve pointed out the Resorts and Hotels alone can Afford to promote Hawaiian Vacations so let them! Build Affordable Housing, that benefits Hawaiians directly!
Hawaii doesn’t need any intermediaries or over paid representatives. Hawaii’s reputation speaks for itself among the global tourism population. Get rid of all of that and I doubt the tourism numbers will drop one iota. Hawaii’s place on the global tourism stage was set decades ago, and will continue to thrive decades into the future without these political machinations.
Gov. Green wanted $50 per tourist fee to reduce number of tourists, now he wants to advertise for tourist. Guess money has changed his opinions. Didn’t take long as today is his swearing in.
Typical big government bureaucrat, always have to do something to justify their job. “We should put a tax to reduce it, wait no we should be subsidizing it.”
Aren’t those non committed commitments wonderful? Was that the Soft Shoe Shuffle to begin a Four Year Stint, can Anyone imagine what the rest of the Term will be like?
Local cable channel advertising has recently featured cultural and natural ways that travelers can participate in malama aina. Away from the standard beach resort appeal from the past, these spots are spot on. Perhaps intended for island audiences, doe anyone know if these are produced by HTA? If so, the tone is a welcome change in direction from the past Hawaii as “Disneyland” appeals.
I would be weary of what They will be selling Hawaiian Vacations as next. Perhaps Universal Studios will suddenly be alive with the Aloha Spirit on each of the islands. They Need something to draw the “Reduced” overcrowding in, maybe Marvel characters roaming around can do that, give them time and Money and eventually they’ll get the Perfect Mix.
Your article depicts Gov. Josh Green as an emergency room physician. He is not an ER physician. Dr. Green is a family practice physician who has ER experience.
I got it. “…they received, last year alone, some $70M in grants. That is over now, and this deal represents the light at the end of the tunnel, it seems.” This “deal”, in fact, represents the fact that the Biden trillion $ hand out during COVID gave CNHA money they would not normally have, nor ever had, to continue their work. Now they want to take over a responsibility they are unprepared for but in the spirit of “let’s accommodate anyone who ever was minimized in our entire history,” we’ll give them this responsibility so ou conscious is clear. Only problem, they have no clue on how to operate. Require leaders from both orgs sit down and designate a couple members from CNHA board to the HVCB board. Get along, or no $ for either.
it seems to me that some very rich people are trying to make it worse on those of us who are not rich and want to come to hawaii and also not helping the local community either. I hope to return one day but with all the fee proposals etc it may be a long time before I return as much as I want to
Yeah well you use a lot of fuel when you fly to Hawaii. Have you considered a Zoom vacation?
When/If you return some day in the future the Drama will undoubtedly still be going strong, once they’ve managed to eliminate the competition the Feeding Frenzy won’t be too far behind. They will feed on their own to increase profits and reduce the competition one by one. That’s about the time Council won’t be seeing extra pay but expected to support the cause for free. That will be something to see! I want front row seats for that inevitable show.