The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) is at a crossroads, after recent years of bumpy operations. Since its creation in 1998 with a charge to market tourism and draw visitors to the state, changing state priorities and growing environmental crises have created pressure on the HTA to evolve, and to exert influence on not only tourism’s volume and spending, but also its economic, cultural and environmental impacts.

As a new report commissioned by the HTA itself recommends, the time is ripe for a reorganization and re-envisioning of the agency. Recommendations include HTA’s restructuring as a “Destination Stewardship Organization,” incorporating a “community-first” approach that aims for a thriving tourism economy while addressing local priorities.

The recommendations need not be adopted in full, but they are fully worthy of careful consideration and responsive action by the Legislature and governor. It’s in the best interest of the state that HTA’s statutory authority be revised to create a more effective, efficient body.

The legislation authorizing HTA emphasized marketing and tourism’s contributions to the economy — rewarding HTA for drawing visitors to spend money in Hawaii, with little regard to how visitors spent their time. A majority of residents today find this inadequate, yet the agency’s structure doesn’t establish sufficient authority for the stewardship called for. This must be rectified.

To get where the state needs to go, the report — presented to the HTA board June 27 by branding/marketing consultancy Better Destinations LLC — calls for a successor agency that is more influential and more broad-based. Expanding the agency’s official authority directly linked to the governor, in recognition of tourism’s far-ranging community reach, makes sense. But converting the entity to nonprofit status, as the report suggests, would be ill-advised, as it risks siloing the agency, hampering open communication with state officials.

The recommendation that the evolved agency adopt a “multi- stakeholder approach,” bringing community groups, government agencies, nonprofits and tourism-related businesses together to achieve common cultural, environmental and economic goals, is the point worth close attention. The report, wisely, recommends that there be a point person to facilitate this “whole-of-government” approach to tourism management. This liaison would be most effective if positioned directly under the governor.

A revamped tourism agency must advance state and local priorities without undue pressure to follow old practices or allegiances, using updated, data-driven best practices. One key data point to consider is that among tourism-industry stakeholders surveyed to create a snapshot of HTA, an eye-opening 43% of them are unsatisfied with HTA’s performance.

Also key: In 2020 and 2021, 67% of Hawaii residents said their “island is being run for tourists at the expense of local people,” answering an HTA survey. It must be acknowledged that benefits from HTA’s marketing strategies so far haven’t been adequate either for a significant portion of the tourism sector or resident communities. Dissatisfied tourism stakeholders and residents complain of “overtourism” and “over-reliance on tourism,” along with “impact on residents’ quality of life” and “strain on infrastructure and local resources.”

Key report recommendations include:

>> Establishing a commission to spearhead the transition, centering the organizational structure on stewarding Hawaii tourism.

>> Empowering the reformed agency to lead on both marketing and destination management on the state’s behalf, with funding from a predictable revenue source.

>> Establishing a liaison with the state charged with monitoring interagency cooperation and progress toward state-established goals.

These track with public sentiment, and should be pursued — and to do so, legislators must take up the challenge.

HTA’s mission is currently too murky, the standards for gauging its effectiveness inadequate. More explicit and updated benchmarks for judging the agency’s performance must be agreed upon, in tandem with expanding its responsibilities.

Disagreements over priorities must be ironed out. How should spending on marketing and destination management be split, or targeted? What outcomes indicate “success”? How can the tourism agency partner with planning offices, environmental groups and business organizations to advance its goals?

Some recommendations dovetail with this year’s passage of Senate Bill 3364, which amends state law to include mandates that the HTA incorporate regenerative tourism and destination management. The bill also repeals HTA’s existing exemption from administrative supervision by a board or commission — creating the prospect that HTA could be more closely supervised by the state. Daniel Naho‘opi‘i, HTA’s interim CEO, said this shows the Legislature is willing to change law controlling the agency and its relationship with state government — just as HTA is willing to evolve.

“There is still a lot more to do,” Naho‘opi‘i said. Undoubtedly: Hawaii has many needs to fill, and a revamp of the state’s tourism agency can get the state closer to its goals.