Hawaii Tourism Authority is operating on an extremely tight deadline to award its largest contract to supply destination management services and promote Hawaii to the U.S. market, the state’s most important visitor source market.

Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau has always had HTA’s top contract and is expected to bid for the next one.

Interested applicants must register their intent to apply by Friday, and proposals are due by May 17. Finalists are expected to be selected by the week of May 23, with notification of the award winner by the week of June 6.

A new contract originally was supposed to take effect Jan. 1; however, the director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Mike McCartney, rescinded an offer that HTA had made to the top applicant.

McCartney said in a statement that DBEDT had determined that the solicitation “did not provide for consideration of all factors of significance to the agency, therefore it is in the best interest of the state of Hawaii to rescind the offer and re-solicit the (request for proposals).”

McCartney said in December that a new request for U.S. proposals would be issued in the coming weeks, but it’s taken HTA months to revise and reissue the RFP.

HTA created a stopgap by awarding HVCB, its longtime contractor and a contender in the failed RFP process, a six-month contract extension. The extension, valued at $8.5 million, began Jan. 1 and ends June 29.

HTA’s next contractor, whether it be HVCB or another entity, is expected to start June 30, with contract terms that run to December 31, 2024, with an additional two-year option. The fixed contract price is nearly $16.4 million for the first calendar year. The next year, the fixed-priced contract is worth more than $18.8 million

The new RFP seeks a contractor to provide “comprehensive branding and visitor education services in the United States market,” and “support services for Hawaii’s official travel website, app, social media channels, and creative content used worldwide for brand marketing and visitor education.”

Selection scores will be weighted with 25% emphasis on the capabilities of the firm and personnel, 25% focus on a brand marketing plan, 20% focus on a destination management support plan, 10% familiarity with the Hawaii brand and product, 10% for a long-term vision and roadmap for HTA’s Destination Management Action Plans, 5% for a global support services management plan and 5% for cost.

The RFP asks respondents to set their own targets for growing average daily spending over 2021 and for growing total expenditures over 2021.

The latest RFP can be downloaded from the State Procurement Office, Hawaii Awards &Notices Data System, Bidding Opportunities website at hands.ehawaii.gov, or from the RFP page of the HTA website at hawaiitourismauthority.org/rfps.

Inquiries regarding the RFP should be directed to contracting@gohta.net.