State Government Sets Up New Travel Authority, Fund
<B> State Government Sets Up New Travel Authority, Fund</B>
By Judy Jacobs
The Hawaii state legislature recently established the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and a marketing fund to promote inbound travel.
To finance the new fund, the legislature raised the 6 percent transient hotel tax to 7.25 percent, and dedicated 2.75 percent of total tax revenue to the new tourism special fund, effective Jan. 1, 1999. An 11-member board of the new Hawai'i Tourism Authority will administer the fund.
The authority, meanwhile, has a broad mandate that covers the implementation and oversight of policies related to the strategic direction for tourism, including overall marketing goals and plans.
Individual members of the board will be selected by the governor, the speaker of the house and the president of the state senate. One member will be from the government, with the other 10 representing the private sector. Six of the private sector members will be required to have visitor marketing experience.
The established agency, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, will continue to conduct marketing and advertising for the State of Hawaii until June 30, 1999, or until another date specified by the Authority board. It will then be bidding in possible competition with others organizations for functions similar to what it now does.
Industry leaders, for the most part, support the state legislature's move.
"For the first time we'll have dedicated marketing funds on a globally competitive level, both for the current market and for the market of tomorrow," said Murray Towill, president of the Hawaii Hotel Association. "The dedicated funding is expected to bring in between $55 and $60 million each year."
John Cushnie, general manager of the Ala Moana Hotel, agreed that establishing the tourism authority is a step in the right direction.
"The Hawaii Hotel Association fought for the tourism authority and felt that a mechanism like this will be far more valuable than what currently exists," he said. "There will be a smaller number of decision makers and we'll not get caught up in the political nature of things like in the past, when everything had to go through the legislature." Now, he said, "You'll start to see more results in the long term and more accountability."
Although the Hawaii Tourism Authority is not replacing the HVCB as far as marketing efforts are concerned, it may propel the existing bureau into a new role.
"First of all, the tourism authority will be there to replace the T in the state's Department of Business Development and Tourism," said HVCB president and chief executive officer Tony Vericella. "The organization will report directly to the governor, and serve as a broad-based authority that will take into account the effects of tourism on various aspects of the state.