New Invoice Places Funding of Hawaii Tourism Authority in Jeopardy

The future of Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) could be at risk as state lawmakers passed law that would cut earmarked funds.

According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, House Bill 862 was passed by officials in Hawaii last week and would remove the earmarked funding HTA receives. If the bill goes into effect, the HTA’s 2023 budget will start from zero and the agency would need to justify why it should receive general funding.

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Hawaii Governor David Ige has until June 21st to veto the legislation. He said this would make it nearly impossible for the HTA to undertake multi-year efforts like the goal management action plan program.

“I am disappointed with what happened to HTA. Loss of dedicated funds is a big problem, ”Ige told the Honolulu Star Advertiser. “The visitor industry is number 1 in this state. It creates more than 200,000 jobs and we won’t see an economic recovery until the visitor industry has recovered. “

Before the pandemic, the HTA was the foundation for a thriving tourism industry, which attracted 10.4 million visitors in 2019. However, local government has slashed funding for the agency for years, with the budget slipping from $ 82 million to $ 79 million in 2018 and now the proposed cut to $ 60 million.

The COVID-19 outbreak also shook residents’ sentiment towards tourism, with some travelers failing to follow health and safety protocols and causing the spread of illegal vacation rentals to neighborhoods Problems with locals.

HTA CEO John De Fries said for “every dollar HTA spent the agency returned $ 20 to the state” in 2019, but the group’s primary focus was now on regenerative tourism. De Fries said the recovery of the state economy depends on tourism.

“When the governor met me and the board of directors, he was very supportive and emphasized once again how important it is for HTA to lead the visitor industry at a critical time in order not only to relaunch tourism, but also the sustainable relaunch of the Maintain Hawaii’s tourism-run economy. De Fries told the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

“At the same time, he expressed great concern about HB 862 and stated that his team is still investigating its options,” continued De Fries. “It’s like trying to distribute an explosive. It is not easy.”