The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) surprised many visitor industry stakeholders on Thursday when it announced plans to award its multimillion-dollar U.S. marketing contract to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA), an Oahu-based nonprofit organization unfamiliar to many travel sellers across North America.
The announcement means the HTA, the state agency charged with managing tourism across the Hawaiian Islands, chose not to renew its longtime leisure marketing partnership with the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB), which handled the Aloha State’s marketing campaigns on the U.S. mainland for more than two decades.
The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Will Oversee Hawaii’s Official Website and More
The HTA said it will negotiate a multi-year contract with CNHA that starts June 30 this year and ends Dec. 31, 2024 — with an option for the HTA to extend the deal for two additional years. The contract covers a number of visitor education and brand management responsibilities, including oversight of Hawaii's official travel website, app, social media channels and creative content.
CNHA said in a Thursday statement that the organization “is humbled that the Hawaii Tourism Authority entrusted us as the entity to deliver the change that Hawaii has long demanded of our visitor industry.”
On its website, CNHA describes itself as a membership-based organization “with a mission to enhance the cultural, economic, political and community development of Native Hawaiians.”
According to the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued April 15 by the HTA, the U.S. marketing contract for July through the end of December this year will pay $16.3 million, along with another $18.8 million for all of 2023. No compensation total was included in the RFP for 2024.
John Monahan, the HVCB’s president and CEO, said in a Thursday email to members, “We are extremely disappointed in the outcome, and we are reviewing the appropriate course of action.”
Monahan noted the HTA had, however, confirmed that the HVCB’s existing Global MCI (Meet Hawaii) and Island Chapters contracts “will remain in full force.”
Hawaii Travel Industry Reacts to CNHA News
Joelle Apilado, vice president of product development for Classic Vacations, said in an email Friday she hadn’t heard of the CNHA, and the HTA’s announcement Thursday afternoon was an unexpected change.
“I was surprised about it when I received the email last night," Apilado said. “And I’m not sure yet what it means to Hawaii and how it affects our team.”
While we are experiencing a surge in business to Hawaii in 2022, it is important this momentum continues for the remainder of the year and throughout 2023 as more destinations open for tourism across the world. We need to understand how Hawaii brand marketing and visitor education will be done by CNHA on the U.S. mainland and any impact [that will have] on visitor arrivals.
Jack Richards, president and CEO of Pleasant Holidays, said in an email Friday his company had a mixed reaction to the HTA announcement, noting the wholesaler has worked closely with the HVCB for many years and hadn’t heard of the CNHA until Thursday.
“HVCB grew tourism to over 10 million visitors to Hawaii, generating billions of dollars in tax revenue plus other economic benefits to the state,” Richards said, adding that Pleasant expects its 2022 business to the Islands to outpace sales in 2019, which was a record year for the company.
“While we are experiencing a surge in business to Hawaii in 2022, it is important this momentum continues for the remainder of the year and throughout 2023 as more destinations open for tourism across the world,” Richards said. “We need to understand how Hawaii brand marketing and visitor education will be done by CNHA on the U.S. mainland and any impact [that will have] on visitor arrivals.”
