Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Team Unlimited
lands HTA contract
extension

The company will get
up to $750,000 to manage
events for the authority

---

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has signed Team Unlimited, headed by longtime island tourism and sports marketing executive Tom Kiely, for another one-year contract to manage HTA-funded events.

Team Unlimited had the first such contract, which ends in September.

The HTA, which has budgeted $6.8 million to support events ranging from art and film festivals and surfing competitions to internationally broadcast golf tournaments, set $750,000 a year as the maximum payment to Kiely's firm.

The previous contract was for up to $475,000.

The new contract takes effect Oct. 1 and lasts through Sept. 30, 2001, with possibility of two one-year extensions.

The contract calls for Team Unlimited to develop an annual statewide events marketing and management plan, cultivate new events, develop relationships with marketing partners, and provide support for events.

That support includes evaluating events after they are over to see what they achieved for Hawaii tourism promotion, as well as helping to manage and market the events.

Bob Fishman, HTA chief executive officer, said two proposals were received by yesterday's deadline.

"Each proposal presented distinctly different opportunities for Hawaii that the authority found interesting and exciting," he said.

"The better overall proposal, however, was submitted by Team Unlimited."

Fishman did not disclose the other bidder.