DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert, flanked by Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, talked to reporters about her new job yesterday.
Lingle appoints
tourism liaisonMarsha Wienert, Maui's
visitors chief, starts the job July 1
Gov. Linda Lingle has named the Maui Visitors Bureau's executive director as the state's first tourism liaison, a job that will have a wide swath of responsibilities in boosting the state's $9.8 billion visitor industry.
Marsha Wienert, 54, will take part in deciding how to award the tourism industry's largest state contract, one that is held by her current employer, the nonprofit Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau.
Wienert plans to step down from the Maui Visitors Bureau and start her new position July 1.
In a press conference yesterday in Lingle's executive chambers, Wienert said she hopes to take an active role in the contract process. Addressing the issue of a conflict of interest, Wienert said she can keep an open mind and make the best decisions.
State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, often a critic of the state's visitor industry leadership, had positive comments about Wienert.
"I've dealt with Marsha for the last three years, and she's always been very straightforward," said Kim, who is chairwoman of the Senate Tourism Committee. "She said that she can be objective, and I believe her."
Wienert has 18 years of isle tourism industry experience and has been executive director of the Maui Visitors Bureau since 1994, when Lingle was Maui mayor. Wienert headed the search committee for Lingle's tourism liaison, but three candidates recommended by the committee did not work out because of salary and moving concerns, Lingle said.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Joining Marsha Wienert in the governor's office yesterday after she was named state tourism liaison were Tony Vericella, left, Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau president and CEO, and Rex Johnson, Hawaii Tourism Authority president.
"All of us kept coming back to Marsha," Lingle said yesterday. Wienert is the last person appointed to Lingle's Cabinet.
Wienert will move to Honolulu from Maui to serve in her new position. She will be paid $85,000 a year, the same pay that a state department director gets. Rex Johnson, executive director of the Hawaii Tourism Authority state marketing agency, is paid $240,000 a year. Tony Vericella, president and chief executive of the Hawaii visitors bureau, received $391,000 in total compensation for 2001, which was privately funded.
Lingle said she had considered using private funds for the tourism liaison position but decided she did not want questions about private influence over the position, so Wienert's position will be government-funded.
"Marsha is taking a big cut in pay" to join the Cabinet, Lingle said.
Wienert will be more than just a liaison and essentially become the state's first tourism director at a time when the industry is recovering from major world events. Most countries have a tourism director, Lingle noted. Wienert's priorities include:
>> Increasing airline capacity to all islands from around the world. A committee put together by Lingle recently expressed concern that two-thirds of all Hawaii-bound flights originate in seven states in the western United States.
>> Creating performance measures for the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which was hit by a critical state audit last year and has been grappling with the issue of accountability.
>> Developing Lingle's tourism agenda for the state Legislature.
>> Advising Lingle on future marketing and operations of the $350 million Hawai'i Convention Center.
Wienert will join the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, and she will become Lingle's representative on the board of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The Hawaii visitors bureau has a $33.2 million contract with the authority to market the state to tourists, which expires at the end of the year. The authority is reviewing bids for the contract, and the Hawaii visitors bureau is facing competition. The bureau, which is more than a century old, has long been the state's lead marketing arm and only recently faced competitive bidding.
In recent Tourism Summit committee meetings called by Lingle, tourism industry leaders with ties to the bureau expressed concern over what would happen if the bureau lost the contract or part of it.
At the beginning of this year, a new state law forced the bureau to relinquish the contract for marketing the Hawai'i Convention Center to SMG, the center's Philadelphia-based manager. The tourism authority awarded SMG a $14 million, 3 1/2-year contract last year to market the convention center, which opened in 1998.
At the same time, the board of the tourism authority is getting new faces with the recent appointments of Maui hotel manager Kyoko Kimura and John Toner, executive vice president of the Ko Olina Resort in West Oahu.
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Marsha Wienert
Age: 54
New title: State tourism liaison
Annual salary: $85,000
Background: Executive director of the Maui Visitors Bureau since 1994. Before that, she was vice president for sales and marketing for Amfac on Maui and marketing director for the Kaanapali Beach Resort Association.
Affiliations: Maui Chamber of Commerce, Maui Economic Development Board and Hawaii Health and Wellness Board
