HTA marketing
contract up for bid

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The Hawaii Tourism Authority is getting ready to award its biggest contract since it was formed in October.

The HTA has started running newspaper advertisements soliciting proposals for a global marketing contract that could use up the biggest share of its $60 million annual budget.

The work traditionally has been done by the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, as the sole tourism marketing arm for the state of Hawaii.

The HVCB has a $45 million budget from the state, authorized by the HTA, for advertising and marketing all of Hawaii as a leisure destination this calendar year. Under an HTA contract that expires Dec. 31, the HVCB also has overall responsibility for meetings and conventions promotions, including winning bookings for the Hawaii Convention Center.

The HTA's current "request for proposals," which will be advertised again Sunday and show up in detail on Monday on the HTA's Web site -- www.hawaii.gov /tourism -- is for "global tourism integrated marketing services." That is the overall task of promoting Hawaii as a leisure destination.

The deadline for proposals is the end of August and Robert Fishman, HTA chief executive officer, said a decision should be made a few weeks later. "The train is moving very fast," he said.

Fishman said that while separate requests for proposals are going out for overall marketing, for convention promotions, and a third for the management of major events funded by the HTA, it is possible that one contractor could win them all, or there could be a number of different contractors.

The HVCB said it will bid for both the overall tourism marketing and for convention center marketing.

"We will definitely be bidding on the two RFPs (requests for proposals) that we understand are going to come out," Tony Vericella, HVCB president and chief executive said today.

"And we will be expecting to get both of these so that all of those efforts can truly be integrated," Vericella said.