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Supporters of a Native Hawaiian group want him to retain a contract with the Hawaii Tourism Authority that would allow him to shape how American travelers perceive the Hawaiian brand.
Speaking this week on behalf of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, former Governor John D. Waihe’e III and veterans of the tourism industry Ann Botticelli, formerly a senior executive at Hawaiian Airlines, and Frank Haas, consultant in tourism who previously served as HTA’s vice president of marketing and helped shape HTA’s 2020 strategic plan.
Last week, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, the entity that holds the current US contract, formally protested HTA’s June 2 decision to award CNHA’s final US tourism contract. HTA had previously awarded the contract to HVCB with a narrow margin, but canceled it when the CNHA protested in December.
HVCB lost a large margin this year when HTA re-solicited the brand management and global support services contract in the United States. The contract extension HTA gave the office at last year’s protest also expires on Wednesday. That means the lucrative contract, worth more than $34 million in the first two years, remains shrouded in uncertainty as the HTA determines whether its controversial procurement process will end with a historic change.
Based in Kapolei, CNHA describes itself as a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance the cultural, economic, political, and community development of Native Hawaiians. According to the proposal the CNHA submitted to HTA, the non-profit organization intends to form a consortium of Native Hawaiian and community and tourism leaders with industry and marketing agencies called Kilohana Collective to manage the American contract.
As Director of Kilohana, CNHA said he has the ability to work with HTA to seek federal and alternative funding sources to leverage and support HTA’s Community Destination Management Action Plans, which describe Hawaii’s tourism goals.
Waihe’e, who served as Hawaii’s governor from 1986 to 1994, said CNHA’s community relations will help HTA transform, while its Native Hawaiian relations could open the door to supplement state money. by federal grants.
“I’m proud that there was Native Hawaiian involvement, but I don’t think the desire for change was a Native Hawaiian thing,” he said.
Tourism in Hawaii topped 6 million visitors under Waihe’e’s administration. At the time, he said it would have been inconceivable to reach 10 million visitors, like Hawaii before the pandemic.
Waihe’e said now is the time to coordinate tourism marketing with the impacts it brings.
” It’s sunny. It’s a wonderful place, but it’s also aloha. It is also the Hawaiian culture. It is also the multi-ethnic population. They’re also the happy natives so to speak, and now when they’re not happy, you know, you have a problem.
Waihe’e said HVCB has done a good job marketing Hawaii, and some of the people in the offices on its neighboring islands are excellent. However, he says, “Overall, I think they started to lose touch with who their ultimate customer was – it’s the public. They started looking at their customer as the person they put on a plane as the only yardstick for what they were doing.
Waihe’e said that in his view, CNHA’s proposal was the winner because it met HTA’s requirement to integrate destination management with branding.
“For me, it’s important that the procurement process actually works and I think the outcome does,” he said.
Proponents of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau disagree, saying the award-winning office in recent years has already successfully included destination management.
Keith Vieira, Director of KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said: “Given the recovery from the pandemic where we are now getting fewer visitors paying more money, I think HVCB has done the best job they have. never done.
“Is there room for improvement, absolutely. Should they turn into different messages, yes. We have to change over time and grow over time. But you don’t throw away the old company that was successful and hire someone with no experience.
It remains unclear when or if HTA will begin finalizing a multi-year contract with CNHA, and what will happen in the meantime.
Mike McCartney, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser: “There is no fixed timeline for me to attempt to effectively resolve this protest, but I understand the sense of importance to the State of Hawaii and urgency to all parties involved.
Chapter 103D of the state procurement law gives McCartney the power to attempt to resolve protests.
“There are several ways that could include but not be limited to such as a new offer, another round of questions and more,” he said.
HTA officials, meanwhile, said they plan to expand the organization so it can temporarily handle the U.S. marketing operation if the extension to HVCB’s current contract expires before a new one. American contract is finalized.
The Star-Advertiser also asked McCartney if there were any additional scenarios that would allow HTA to ask CNHA to start the new US contract or extend the current US contract with HVCB.
“They are exploring all options but will continue to comply with 103D,” he said.
All of the drama and potential U.S. marketing lapses at a critical time in Hawaii’s tourism recovery has left members of the visitor industry on edge. If the CNHA retains the contract, it would be a rare example of an Indigenous nonprofit taking the lead from a state tourism agency. It would also be the first time that HVCB does not hold the contract to market HTA in the United States.
CNHA CEO Kuhio Lewis said the non-profit organization is committed to building bridges between community and industry.
“We understand what is at stake and the kuleana ahead of us. We are charged with supporting HTA’s vision of a regenerative new model for tourism,” he said. “HTA’s strategic plan, along with island-specific destination management action plans, provide clear direction for successfully navigating in the years to come.”
Haas, a member of the CNHA Transition Team, said HTA’s current US contract solicitation differs from previous ones as it focuses on HTA’s 2020 strategic plan goals, which incorporates destination management. as well as marketing and branding.
“Hotels, airlines, wholesalers will continue to market Hawaii,” Haas said. “They will continue to bring people here. HTA’s role is to influence the types of visitors who come here.
Haas said CNHA’s proposal encompasses the interaction between destination management and US marketing.
“Tourism happens in the community, so you can’t say we’re going to market the destination and forget about the fact that the marketing ends up with the visitors in the destination,” he said.
Haas said the Kilohana Collective team and transition team were chosen to “complement CNHA’s deep expertise in the community.”
“Everyone is at the table,” Haas said.
Absent from the table is Hawaii Hotel Alliance President Jerry Gibson, who said his involvement was misrepresented in CNHA’s proposal during the second solicitation. Tom Kiely, former CEO and co-founder of Xterra, said the CNHA also misrepresented its involvement in the first solicitation.
Vieira said the misrepresentations about the CNHA team should not be overlooked.
“How can anyone ever hire someone who says, well, we’ll name him later. It’s just ridiculous,” he said.
Kiely said the CNHA’s proposal should be rejected because it “deliberately misrepresents the facts.” He said the CNHA should also not be considered for a future RFP.
Kiely also expressed concern that the Kilohana Collective had not worked as a team before and therefore had no performance record.
Haas said additions to the transition squad are coming and a certain degree of fluidity is a plus.
“If we see that what we were looking for in Jerry (Gibson) is missing, I think we’ll go find it,” Haas said.
Botticelli, a current Honolulu police commissioner, is among the experts assisting the CNHA whose role has changed.
During the first contract process, Botticelli had signed on to serve as the executive director of the Kilohana Collective. She said that at the time the contract was renewed, she asked to reduce her activities to focus on previous commitments to other organizations.
She now volunteers with the CNHA Transition Team, with the goal of helping them hire a permanent General Manager for the Kilohana Collective.
Botticelli said she supports what HTA and CNHA hope to accomplish.
“What the HTA is trying to do with its regenerative tourism strategy is quite transformational change and I think it’s important and worth trying,” she said. “If you read their (request for proposal), they are looking for an entity that can help them develop tourism and manage the destination from a community perspective.”
Botticelli said a positive aspect of the contract dispute is that it focuses the conversation on what kind of strategy HTA wants to follow.
Botticelli said she hopes the end result will take Hawaii to a place where “tourism becomes an industry that is not vilified by the residents of this state, but is in fact an industry that residents believe their bring something”.
