Lingle appoints
tourism insiders
to HTA board
Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday appointed a pair of visitor industry insiders to vacant posts on the state Hawaii Tourism Authority's board of directors.
GUIDING TOURISM
Gov. Linda Lingle named two new members to the Hawaii Tourism Authority yesterday:
Name: Douglas Kahikina Chang, general manager of the Hotel Hana
Other positions: President, Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association; board member of Maui Visitors Bureau and Maui Chamber of Commerce (Hana Chapter).
Name: Cheryl Williams, regional director of sales and marketing, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii.
Other positions: Member, Oahu Visitors Bureau marketing committee and Hawaii Convention Center advisory committee.
Hotel Hana general manager Douglas Kahikina Chang and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii executive Cheryl Williams were named to four-year terms on the board. The appointments will require state Senate confirmation in the next legislative session.
Lingle said the new appointments further distance the authority from the approach of the Cayetano administration, which held that significant representation by people outside the visitor industry would ensure non-biased decisions on how to spend the authority's $69 million budget.
Lingle called that a "false argument."
"(That's) a lot of public funds to be entrusted with," she said. "To maximize the return on that money, we want to make sure it's put in the hands of people who understand the industry."
The two appointees will replace outgoing board chairman Mike McCartney, who is president and chief executive of Hawaii Public Television, and Keith Vieira, senior vice president with Starwood Hotels and Resorts.
Chang has served as manager of the Kauai Marriott Resort and Beach Club and general manager of the Hanalei Bay Resort before taking up his current post on Maui.
He also serves as president of the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association, whose mission is to ensure that tourism development respects Hawaiian cultural values.
Chang said it was important for the tourism authority to work to preserve the few Hawaii locales still unspoiled by the industry, such as Hana, located in remote East Maui.
"Tourism brings change, but it is incumbent on us to protect those places," he said.
