HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority is requesting proposals for “visitor education and brand management services” for the Canadian market.
The agency says it’s looking for a contractor who will promote Hawaiian culture and values while further increasing Canadian visitor spending, which averaged $188 per person per day and totaled $928.2 million in 2022 for the state.
The selected contractor will work “to support HTA’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, Destination Management Action Plans, and a regenerative tourism model for Hawai‘i,” noting that they would be tasked with “educating visitors about traveling mindfully and respectfully,” the tourism authority said in a statement.
HTA Public Affairs Officer Ilihia Gionson echoed that sentiment in a March 16 interview with The Garden Island.
“In 2020, HTA adopted a new strategic plan that shifted the focus from marketing to destination management. From a focus on bringing more visitors to encouraging higher-spending visitors,” he said. “And it also set up the framework for making sure that we balance tourism’s economic benefits with its very real impact on communities and natural resources.”
Those efforts include communicating HTA’s destination management efforts with consumers, travel agents, online travel agencies, and others in the travel trade to explain the importance of caring for Hawai‘i, according to Gionson.
“Before people even think of booking a trip here, it’s about getting our messages of malama Hawai‘i and expectations and ways that we would like visitors to behave getting out in front of them as they consider a trip to Hawai‘i,” he said. “This is our effort to do that in the Canadian market.”
These efforts by the HTA are not new or unique to Canada. The agency frequently works with brand marketing organizations in a variety of countries, including China, Korea and Australia, and typically puts out requests for proposals as contracts near their expiration dates.
The HTA last announced a request for
proposal process in the fall of 2022, when it awarded a 3-year contract to travel agency a.link LLC for visitor education and destination brand marketing in Japan.
Destination marketing company VoX International has been responsible for the HTA’s Canadian marketing of Hawai‘i since 2017. That contract is set to expire on June 30, the same day the HTA says a new contract will commence.
Gionson said he couldn’t comment on the likelihood that VoX International would renew its contract “because it’s an active procurement,” but that VoX and “anybody else who thinks they can do the work” is eligible to bid.
According to the HTA’s request for proposals, the contractor will receive $2.4 million for the initial 2.5 years of the multi-term contract.
The RFP also says the HTA can provide an extra $200,000 each year, at its discretion, but the total maximum funding will not exceed $2.8 million.
Gionson said the additional funding was dependent on the HTA’s budget availability, which he called “a hot topic” at the state Legislature.
Funding for the HTA could be significantly reduced over the next couple of years, according to the newest draft of the state’s upcoming fiscal budget. The $18.9 billion budget, called House Bill 300, cuts $40 million from the HTA’s requested operating funding, allocating the agency just $35 million instead of $75 million.
An intent to submit proposals is due by 4:30 p.m. on March 24, and proposals are due to the HTA by 2 p.m. on April 21.
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Emma Grunwald, reporter, can be reached 808-245-0441 or egrunwald@thegardenisland.com.
