Cayetano picks
tourism board

Many of the members
have ties to the HVCB

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Gov. Ben Cayetano has named the 13 members of the panel that will design and direct the future course of tourism, Hawaii's No. 1 industry.

Many of the 11 voting members of the new Hawaii Tourism Authority board are closely connected with the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, which has marketed the state as a destination since the late 1920s and wants the contract to keep on doing it.

For example, appointee Roy Tokujo, president and chief executive officer of Cove Marketing Inc., is in his second year as chairman of the HVCB's volunteer board of directors and has served as an interim president. Several other appointees have served or are serving on the HVCB board or its committees.

One responsibility of the new board will be to draw up a marketing plan for Hawaii tourism and contract with an organization, or more than one, to do the work. The HVCB believes it should get that job.

"I think we can be a good resource," said Tony Vericella, HVCB president and chief executive officer. "We're going to prove to them and to anyone that we should get the first contract," he said.

Vericella said the tourism authority board should give the HVCB a long-term contract and "allow us to work like a business," adequately funded for the first time and positioned for global competitiveness.

The new authority will have an advantage that the HVCB has not enjoyed -- a dedicated source of funding. The authority will be automatically funded from an increased hotel room tax, which goes to 7.25 percent on Jan. 1 from the current 6 percent. The increase is expected to generate about $60 million a year for the authority, double the state's current spending on tourism promotion. It also means that the people in charge of marketing Hawaii will no longer have to beg the state Legislature each year for money.

The HVCB will continue as the state's marketing arm at least through June 1999. If the tourism authority's new marketing structure is not in place by then, it has the option of extending the HVCB's contract.

The appointments are subject to confirmation by the state Senate in the 1999 Legislature but the board plans to meet in the last week of this month and get to work. It expects to elect a chairman at that meeting, said Muriel Anderson, manager of the state tourism office.

The law also calls for the board to hire an executive director at a salary to be decided by the governor. Other staffing will be provided by DBEDT.

Besides Tokujo, the other voting members of the board are:

Gary Baldwin, a Kauai management consultant who works in the fields of technology and tourism marketing and development.

David Carey, president and chief executive of Outrigger Enterprises Inc. and its main subsidiary, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts. He's also an HVCB board member.

Shari Chang, senior vice president for sales and marketing at Castle Hotels & Resorts, part of Castle Group Inc.

Gilbert Kimura, regional sales manager of Japan Airlines Inc.

Diane Quitiquit, director of research and development for the County of Hawaii, and an HVCB board member.

John Reed, chairman of Pacific retail development for Duty Free Shoppers.

Mark Rolfing, Rolfing Sports Inc., Maui.

Keith Vieira, vice president and director of Hawaii operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., and an HVCB board member.

Ronald Wright, managing director of sales and marketing in Hawaii for Continental Airlines Inc.

Seiji Naya, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. Future DBEDT directors will have that ex-officio voting role.

There are two nonvoting members:

The director of the state Department of Transportation, currently Kazu Hayashida.

Kalowena Komeiji, an independent consultant for events and public relations. Komeiji was chosen to fill the spot for a nonvoting member representing the general public.

Aside from Naya and Hayashida, who serve because of their state cabinet posts, the members are all volunteers and the only money they will receive is traveling expenses.

Ruth-Ann Becker, who chairs the tourism council of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, said the tourism authority should focus on developing a long-term vision for tourism.

"This means defining such things as what the airports will be like, how public lands will be used, what public transportation needs are," she said.