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BACKGROUND

On December 23, 2008, Juergen Thomas Steinmetz via his eTurboNews launched an international survey to travel industry professionals about Hawai’i tourism and the state’s antiquated marketing strategies and plan. Steinmetz noted, “The response was overwhelming. We received feedback and comments from 89 countries, 1107 travel industry professionals were interested in becoming actively involved, plus another 378 industry leaders in Hawai`i from several significant travel-related entities weighed in and a total of 4139 travel industry professionals from 87 countries have registered on our website. Clearly something is very wrong.” Steinmetz survey and statement was proven correct when the following news stories ran but a few weeks later:

Thursday, January 15, 2009

HONOLULU ADVERTISER

Hawaii Tourism Authority lacks clear strategy, state audit finds Report faults HTA on leadership over plan that lacks specific goals

Advertiser Staff

The state's lead tourism agency -- the Hawai'i Tourism Authority -- lacks a strategic plan that sets measurable goals, according to a state auditor's report released yesterday. The report highlights problems with the agency at a crucial time for tourism -- with the state's No. 1 industry experiencing a double-digit slump in visitor arrivals. MORE AT: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090115/NEWS01/901150326

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Monday, January 19, 2009

HONOLULU ADVERTISER

HTA should set its own strategic course

Against the dismal backdrop of even more economic turmoil ahead comes some not-so-encouraging news from the state auditor's office: The Hawai'i Tourism Authority lacks a strategic plan to manage the long-term growth of the state's visitor industry. MORE AT: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090119/OPINION01/901190312/-1

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RELATED MEDIA

Mar 03, 2009

HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN

Hawaii Tourism Association forms executive committee

By Allison Schaefers

Several Hawaii tourism industry heavy hitters will serve on the executive committee for the recently formed Hawaii Tourism Association (HiTA), a visitor industry organization which seeks to supplement the efforts of the state's Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Formed late last year by Juergen Thomas Steinmetz, publisher of Oahu-based eTurboNews, HiTA seeks to address perceived antiquities in the state's marketing strategies and plans, Steinmetz said.

HiTA plans to educate and update the global travel industry on current and emerging trends, economics, events, activities, services, businesses, and marketing opportunities. Unlike the similarly named Hawaii Tourism Authority, HiTA does not manage state visitor industry resources or set state policy.

"These are two, distinct organizations with complementary agendas," Steinmetz said.

Steinmetz will be joined on the executive committee by Frank Haas, principal of consulting firm Marketing Management; Denise Moreland, president of Hawaii's Cultural Connection; and Scott Foster, principal of Scott Foster & Associates. The committee will guide the association through startup and help determine its future direction and activities.

"We are off to a great start," said Steinmetz. "The response to our initial international survey garnered overwhelming response and served as an initiative to launch this association."

Steinmetz said HiTA has received its first monetary contribution and that the funds are being used to help construct a Web portal and provide the organization with a presence at the International Tourism Exchange, the world's largest travel trade show in Berlin.

HiTA also has scheduled a presentation to German SKAL clubs, a global association of travel industry chief executives and managers with chapters worldwide including Hawaii. And, the new industry group will host a phone conference with Hawaii's travel trade partners in Singapore. ORIGINAL AT: http://www.starbulletin.com/business/Hawaii_Tourism_Association_forms_executive_committee.html

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Tuesday, March 3, 2009

PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS

New Hawaii tourism group changes its name

The recently formed Hawaii Tourism Association has changed its acronym to reduce confusion with another HTA, the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Effective Wednesday, the Hawaii Tourism Association will use the acronym HiTA.

“I never thought of the two entities in terms of their acronyms,” said HiTA founder Thomas Steinmetz. “I was simply looking for a name that met our purpose.”

HiTA is a private initiative that was formed in December to help shape travelers’ perceptions of Hawaii.

Steinmetz said the association’s original acronym “caused some confusion” with the state’s official tourism agency, the HTA, which was created in 1998.

HiTA executive committee members include Frank Haas, a former vice president of marketing for the HTA who is currently a marketing consultant and assistant dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Travel Industry Management.

Steinmetz is publisher of Oahu-based eTurboNews, which provides international travel industry news to industry professionals and journalists.

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PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS

February 27, 2009

Secrecy rules more Hawaii Tourism Authority board decisions

by Chad Blair

A recent agenda noted four discussion items would be taken into closed session, including “Discussion Regarding Sports Events in Hawaii” and “Discussion Regarding the Allocation of Marketing Funds to the Neighbor Island Visitors’ Bureaus.”

The Hawaii Tourism Authority board is increasingly conducting its business in secret, making decisions about spending millions of dollars in taxpayer money with little public scrutiny.

A review by PBN of meeting agendas from March 1, 2008, through Feb. 26, 2009, found that the HTA listed 42 items for possible executive session out of a total of 111 agenda items.

That put 38 percent of the agenda items out of public view.

While some of the closed discussions involved recurring personnel issues and are allowed under state law, including the removal of chief executive Rex Johnson last summer, the majority were discussions about how the HTA is spending $71 million in public money.

Some agenda items slated for private discussion are so broad and vague that they clearly violate even the most liberal interpretation of the state’s Sunshine Law. For example, “Discussion regarding sports events in Hawaii,” was listed as an executive session item on the board’s Feb. 20 agenda.

The habit of moving meetings into executive session comes as the HTA faces growing criticism of its leadership and marketing strategies while visitor arrivals plummet.

Board members and staff defend the closed-door meetings, saying some marketing matters are so sensitive that, if discussed openly, they could affect Hawaii’s ability to compete with rival visitor destinations.

They point to state law that gives them executive session privileges when discussing commercial or proprietary information, as well as information that might be harmful to HTA contractors and other business interests.

Deputy Attorney General Gregg Kinkley, who has attended HTA board meetings since January 2004 and advises the board on legal issues, said applying the Sunshine Law is sometimes “more of an art than a science.”

“But I am guided by the guiding principle and default position that everything should be in public, and that if there is ever any doubt, you err on the side of going public,” Kinkley said. “That is the policy, that is the law. The HTA is a public agency spending community moneys that is charged with a public trust.”

At the Feb. 20 meeting, Kinkley said he told the board that two agenda items — the discussion of sports events and talking about marketing funds for Neighbor Island visitor bureaus — did not meet the openness test.

The board briefly discussed the Neighbor Island issue in public then lost its quorum before it could tackle the sports event item.

“I watch these issues like a hawk,” Kink-ley said.

HTA board Chairman Kelvin Bloom, president of Aston Hotels & Resorts, said he believes the board’s use of executive sessions is warranted and that the board follows Kinkley’s advice if he believes a discussion should be held in public.

“At the end of the day, the deputy attorney general makes that determination, not the board or staff,” he said. “The deputy AG will intervene if we cannot go into executive session. I can’t recall there being a single instance when the board did not follow the deputy AG.”

Experts on Sunshine Law, however, say closed-door sessions should be rare and brief, with officials moving quickly back into public session once they have reached a decision. It is not unusual for HTA executive sessions on marketing and budgets to last an hour or more.

“It is clear to me without even knowing what they are discussing, that they are using executive session in an unwarranted way to try to close off any substantive part of their meetings,” said attorney Jeff Portnoy of Cades Schutte, an expert on First Amendment issues who reviewed a sample of HTA agendas at the request of PBN.

Sen. Les Ihara, D-Kapahulu-Kaimuki-Palolo, a longtime advocate of government transparency, said public agencies must by law limit the discussions they have in private.

“They can talk about, for example, a bid amount for a contract — that would be appropriate,” he said. “But they can’t go into executive session and then talk about everything else. They have to watch themselves and adjourn and go right back into public.”

HTA board members and staff frequently invoke the issue of “competition” in moving meetings behind closed doors, explaining that other destinations would love to know how Hawaii is spending its money.

Policy initiatives, budget recommendations, marketing allocations, the performance of its contractors, analysis of airline data and negotiations regarding the NFL Pro Bowl are some of the topics that have been discussed privately by the board.

“We want to protect the interests of the people of Hawaii,” said HTA Vice Chairwoman Sharon Weiner, an executive with DFS Group Ltd. “We don’t want to be revealing to our competitors how we plan to market and attract visitors. They may want to pre-empt that, which would not be in our best interest.”

But Portnoy said some of that secrecy has to be given up when working for a government agency.

“There is a strong tendency to conduct business on the HTA like they would in their own board room, which is to not allow anyone in that does not have to be there,” Portnoy said. “But when you volunteer to serve on a government agency using tax dollars … the public has an absolute right to know where their money is going and why.”

Lloyd Unebasami, the HTA’s interim president and CEO, said the board’s executive sessions must be seen in the context of a very unusual and difficult year for the HTA and Hawaii tourism.

“The reason it seems as if we are in executive session a little more is that when we deal with contract negotiations — any contracts, including marketing — it needs to be discussed with the board because it affects our ability to negotiate a contract,” he said.

Unebasami said discussions to bring the Pro Bowl back to Hawaii illustrate his point.

“Let’s say the NFL knows that we are willing to go as high as $6 million for the contract, then how can I start the negotiations at $4 million?” he said. “We lose the ability to get down to a reasonable price. So that is why we do it in executive session, so that we know the limits that we have in continuing our negotiations.”

Portnoy disagrees, saying the public should know how much it’s paying for a football game.

“This NFL stuff should be out in the open,” he said. “What is proprietary about that?”

The process of hiring a replacement for Johnson has been especially secretive.

The day after Johnson’s resignation, board member Doug Chang, a hotel executive from Maui, asked for an executive session to discuss the job description and selection criteria for Johnson’s replacement.

A reporter from The Honolulu Advertiser challenged the request. According to the HTA’s minutes of the meeting, Kinkley said he was not clear about the confidentiality of the matter, and asked to go into executive session to “obtain clarification.”

The board did, for five minutes, and then reconvened publicly, at which time Kinkley announced that the law required a public discussion.

cblair@bizjournals.com | 955-8036

ORIGINAL AT: http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/03/02/story1.html?b=1235970000^1786091&t=printable

February, 27, 2009

HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN

HTA names top choice for CEO

The agency is expected to offer Mike McCartney the position next week

Mike McCartney, a former Hawaii state senator and Democratic Party chairman, has been tapped to lead the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the state agency that controls tourism dollars and sets policy for the visitor industry. An HTA search committee recommended McCartney yesterday as HTA's next president and chief executive. The agency is expected to make McCartney a job offer at next Friday's board meeting. MORE AT: http://www.starbulletin.com/business/20090227_HTA_names_top_choice_for_CEO.html

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February 26, 2009

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority

NEWS RELEASE

HTA’S INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS MICHAEL MCCARTNEY AS HTA PRESIDENT & CEO

HONOLULU -- The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), the state’s tourism agency, has announced that its Search Investigative Committee will recommend Michael McCartney as the Authority’s President and Chief Executive Officer. The recommendation will be submitted to the full board at its next board meeting. MORE AT:

http://belammc.com/hita/090226_HTA_PR_McCartney.pdf

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Thursday, February 26, 2009

HONOLULU ADVERTISER

Panel recommends Mike McCartney to head HTA

By Robbie Dingeman and Rick Daysog

Advertiser Staff Writers

A search committee today recommended that the Hawaii Tourism Authority hire former state senator and Democratic Party Chairman Mike McCartney to head the state's lead tourism agency. MCartney, who also who served as chairman of the HTA board until 2004, was one of two finalists for the job. MORE AT: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090226/BREAKING03/90226067/-1

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February 19, 2009

USA TODAY

Trouble in paradise: Cash-strapped tourists avoid Hawaii

By Laura Bly

LAHAINA, Maui -- Every winter, scores of humpback whales trade the Gulf of Alaska for a few months of breeding, birthing and basking in Hawaii -- a follow-the-sun migration that fuels much of the tourism industry in this former 19th-century whaling town. But while the marine giants are returning right on schedule this year, their cash-strapped human admirers are not. And the effect of that absence is, "in a four-letter word, ugly," says Bill Seidl, a boat captain who peddles whale-watch trips on the Lahaina waterfront. MORE AT: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-02-19-hawaii-tourism_N.htm

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January 30, 2009

PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS

Critic of state's plan to market tourism forms his own HTA

By Chad Blair

The president of the new Hawaii Tourism Association formed the private initiative last month because he is frustrated with the state’s efforts to market Hawaii. While he understands how some may confuse his HTA with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Thomas Steinmetz stresses that the association wants only to help the authority and its top marketers do their jobs better. MORE AT: http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2009/02/02/story6.html?b=1233550800^1770686&t=printable

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