Tourism board seeks
control of budget

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The Hawaii Tourism Authority is getting ready to send a message to the Legislature, that it's the authority's job -- not the lawmakers' -- to decide how Hawaii's tourism marketing money is spent. In the current fiscal year, the Legislature has mandated how $4.5 million of the state's tourism fund must be spent.

Meanwhile, the unpaid tourism authority board of directors is set to advertise for its first big paid position, the executive director's post, which could pay as much as $120,000 a year. The help-wanted advertisement will appear in this Sunday's newspaper and in major papers on the neighbor islands.

The authority yesterday began working on a legislative agenda and there was agreement that a high priority will be getting rid of "provisos." These are spending items that the Legislature demanded in return for its approval of the overall tourism budget, most of which goes to the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau.

For years the HVCB has accepted those items reluctantly but recognized it had little choice. The 1998 law that created the Hawaii Tourism Authority, however, created direct financing from the hotel room tax, no longer requiring legislative approval, and the authority's stand is that along with that independence also came independence of choice in how the money is spent. For now, at least through calendar 1999, the HVCB is still the state's tourism marketing arm and the provisos stand.

In the 1998 budget they include $3 million for the Pro Bowl and $2 million for various golf tournaments, such as the Sony Hawaiian Open and the Senior Skins.

Board member Mark Rolfing, a golf marketing professional and head of Maui-based Rolfing Sports Inc., said it is important that the authority make the decisions on which ones to support. "If we are going to head off the provisos, we have to get proactive ourselves," he said.

The HVCB has a total marketing budget of $33 million for the fiscal year to end June 30, including hotel room tax revenues that start to come in on Jan. 1. The tourism authority has decided that the HVCB should continue to do the marketing through next year.

While that goes on, the authority will decide how to select one or more organizations or businesses to do the future marketing. The HVCB says it will bid and should be selected because it has the experience and the expertise.

In other actions, the authority will advertise for the executive director's position, for which Gov. Ben Cayetano has approved a salary range of $80,000 to $120,000. The deadline for submitting resumes, which must go to the personnel office of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, is Dec. 15.

The applicant "must possess knowledge of the hospitality/travel industry and the unique channels of distribution for Hawaii, including wholesalers, retailers, tour operators and airlines," the advertisement will say. Asia-Pacific market experience, particularly with Japan, is also required.