The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA) appeared before a joint legislative tourism committee on October 14th. We watched the briefing online and really started to understand the adage: there are two things you never want to watch being made, sausages and laws.
Among the presentations, questions, and government-speak, a few updates caught our attention.
The CEO Search, 3+ Years in the Making
HTA received approximately 68 applications and interviewed eight candidates before reopening its search for a permanent CEO. The search was reopened partly because the position changed to a state employee position. HTA says it’s looking for someone who can balance tourism industry knowledge with government experience; applications close October 30th. A selection committee will then recommend two or three finalists to the HTA board, which expects to conduct public interviews in December before recommending one candidate to the governor.
The Roof, The Roof, The Roof Is… Not on Fire (Yet)
The Hawaiʻi Convention Center’s $108.67 million rooftop project is hitting turbulence. The contractor submitted six requests for additional time and costs, all rejected by HTA over insufficient or inconsistent documentation. Permitting delays and unforeseen conditions have complicated matters, and HTA can’t guarantee the planned January 2028 reopening. An updated schedule is expected in late October or early November.
The legislative briefing also raised questions about accountability under the Convention Center’s management contract, including whether stronger penalties for maintenance failures are needed. The irony isn’t lost on us that legislators are demanding answers about delays and potentially lost 2028 business when years of inadequate legislative funding helped create the problem. Rep. Tam wasn’t there for much of that history, and his concerns are valid, but as HTA Interim CEO Caroline Anderson emphasized, this is a deferred maintenance problem years in the making, not simply a failure of the current operator.
HTA Contracts: A Few Things to Watch
HTA provided an update on its major contracts, including five currently held by the Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB), four of which expire at year-end. New procurement is underway. If you were wondering why the 2027 US and Japan marketing plans session vanished from the Tourism Conference agenda, this might be your answer. What caught our attention was Anderson’s comment that HTA is examining its Global Support Services contract to see which projects could be brought in-house for greater efficiency. No specifics yet, but we’re curious to see where this goes.
So is this simply a routine procurement process, or are we seeing the beginnings of a bigger change in Hawaiʻi’s tourism marketing model? The new CEO is really going to have their hands full.
