The Hawaii Tourism Authority, which ended last year’s contentious legislative session without a budget, is headed into this one with a controversial new HTA board chairperson — former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Hannemann secured the votes to replace former HTA Chair Blaine Miyasato during a special HTA board meeting Wednesday. Miyasato, Hawaiian Airlines’ managing director of state and local government affairs, stepped down Wednesday to attend to new responsibilities related to Alaska Airlines’ pending acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines.

Miyasato, who had been HTA chair since July 27, will continue to serve as an HTA board member. Hannemann, who was appointed by Gov. Josh Green to the HTA board in late July, has headed the Hawaii Lodging &Tourism Association since 2015.

At the time, insiders compared Green’s selection of Hannemann to his decision to appoint former Gov. Neil Abercrombie to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents, where his outspoken ways could create a shift in the measured culture of the board and in the university’s fractured relationships with some state senators. HTA, like UH, has been in a tug of war with the state Legislature over autonomy and has been the target of heavy legislative scrutiny.

Visitor industry and government sources say Hannemann’s seasoned political acumen could help HTA bridge the gap with lawmakers. Still, others have worried that his job at HLTA and his two-year term on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, which advises the U.S. secretary of commerce on matters that relate to the nation’s travel and tourism industry, could create conflicts.

State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director Jimmy Tokioka voted to support Hannemann’s chairpersonship but not before questioning why the vote was scheduled for a special meeting instead of the Dec. 21 regular monthly board meeting.

Tokioka also grilled Hannemann on his hiring intentions for a new HTA president and CEO and said that due to Sunshine Law requirements he had not had a chance to talk to Hannemann about concerns. Tokioka previously has said that he prefers to wait to hire a new HTA president and CEO until until the next legislative session since the last one ended with HTA’s future uncertain.

“I’ve worked with you for a long time now, member Hannemann,” Tokioka said. “You’ve worked in the community for a long time. I think it’s not a secret you have your advocates and then you have people who are not your advocates. I think for the people that have shared their concerns with me, I will share it openly like I think I am responsible to do, and it’s not anything personal member Hannemann.”

HTA board member Dave Arakawa proposed deferring the vote for a new HTA chair until the agency’s Dec. 21 meeting, and HTA board member Stephanie Iona withdrew her nomination of Hannemann. However, several board members, including Hannemann, spoke out against a deferral.

“If we delay this vote today, it’s tantamount to saying that DBEDT controls Hawaii Tourism Authority. Jimmy sits here as a member — one of 12 members. We respect his opinions. His opinions are very valid. I have no doubt that he talks to the governor, but so do I. I said to you folks before I have a title with the governor, I’m a special adviser to the governor.”

Moreover, Hannemann said, “I just think the perception of HTA is so mixed out there. (With a deferral) I think we send another message again that we don’t really know what we are doing.”

Ultimately, Tokioka asked Arakawa to rescind the deferral motion to allow for a vote on the chairperson. “The last thing I would want to do is to fracture splinter the board,” Tokioka said.

Iona again nominated Hannemann, whose selection as HTA chair was supported by the nine HTA board members present during the vote. HTA board members Jim McCully, Sherry Menor-McNamara and Sig Zane were excused.

The board’s selection of Hannemann was indicative of a majority desire to show leadership by shoring up the stretched HTA staff, especially by filling the critical HTA president and CEO position and the HTA chief brand officer position.

HTA Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Naho‘opi‘i has been serving as interim president and CEO since former HTA President and CEO John De Fries resigned Sept. 15. Naho‘opi‘i also has been focused on branding since Kalani Ka‘ana‘ana, HTA chief brand officer, has been transitioning into a comparable stewardship leadership role.

Many on the HTA board believe achieving more stability in leadership is important for HTA which has had 10 different presidents and CEOs, some interim and some full-time hires, since the agency was created 25 years ago.

Iona said she supported holding a special session to elect a new chair because, “I felt as a member of this board we could not go into the year with an interim CEO and an interim chair. That was the reason for it so we could start fresh on Dec. 21, get our business done, move forward with a new chair and start the legislative session in business order and moving in a positive direction.”

HTA nearly got repealed by the state Legislature last session, and over the last several years has experienced strong criticism about the need for greater management of tourism from state legislators, particularly those who live in tourism hot spots.

HTA has focused even more on tourism stewardship in the last year, and since the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires has been working on a tourism recovery plan for Maui.

Still, it’s evident that HTA is not out of the woods with critics. The agency met with robust pushback from the Maui community on Dec. 4 when it presented a draft of its tourism recovery plan for the island.

Key actions in HTA’s recovery plan include:

>> In early 2024, increase the visibility and call to action for travel to Hawaii targeting lucrative markets.

>> Support businesses to continue providing a consistent message that Maui is open to visitors.

>> Encourage consistent messaging and outreach to Maui residents, visitor industry stakeholders and businesses.

>> Support Maui small businesses that are suffering because of fewer visitors on the island.

>> Expand Maui’s tourism attractions to provide new activities for visitors and support businesses.

>> Support providing longer-term housing for wildfire-affected households living in visitor accommodations by assisting with communication efforts to short-term rental owners.

Naho‘opi‘i and Faith Rex, president of SMS Consulting and executive vice president of SMS Research, told the Maui community that the proposed actions had been developed following a series of listening sessions and research.

HTA Public Affairs Officer Ilihia Gionson said, “At a high level too many people are too close to the edge and that’s what kind of drives our work to think about how we can help; how tourism can help. Again tourism (is) not everything, but what is tourism’s role in contributing.”

All urged the community to provide feedback by Friday so that its input could be taken into consideration in tweaking the plan, which will be presented to the HTA board for adoption on Dec. 21.

Many attendees wanted to see HTA assist with the quest to get more short-term rental owners to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s longer-term disaster housing.

However, early feedback from those attending the meeting, who insisted on keeping the comment period open well beyond the anticipated meeting end, was mostly against any plan that supported tourism in Maui.

A man suggested minimizing tourism for nine months of the year, and only allowing tourism for the other three. A woman wanted the state to determine the carrying capacity of the islands before trying to recover visitor arrivals.

Many testifiers blamed tourism for the degradation of culture and natural resources, as well as traffic and the housing shortage, which has been exacerbated by the Maui wildfires. Some were visibly angry or distraught as they talked about the discomfort of welcoming tourists during a period of mourning and disaster recovery. They said tensions between residents and visitors on Maui, especially the west side, are at an all-time high.