The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), which was defunded by Gov. David Ige last May, could be critically low in funds by June, and some are pushing for Ige to return funding to the agency.
The HTA is funded solely through the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT), which also provides funding to the Turtle Bay Conservation Fund, the Hawai‘i Convention Center and local counties, according to coverage by the Star Advertiser. In 2019, the HTA received approximately $79 million in TAT funds, down from $82 million in previous years.
With access to TAT funds cut off last May by Ige, the HTA cut its annual budget of $86 million down to $41 million by November, according to the Star Advertiser. Subsisting on the funds carried-over from previous years, they estimate they will only have $10 million left by the start of the new fiscal year in June.
Advocates of restoring funding, such as Sean Dee, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Outrigger Hospitality Group, have said that it is essential in order to get ahead of future tourism spending that funding be restored as soon as possible, according to the Star Advertiser.
“While some believe that tourism will magically return to past levels, the reality is that there is a lot of competition for consumers’ travel dollars, especially with the numbers of travelers being so dramatically reduced globally,” Dee said, according to the Star Advertiser.
State Sen. Glenn Wakai (D-District 15), who chairs the state Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development and Tourism, said that he expects the funding won’t be restored to previous levels, according to the Star Advertiser. Yet, he stressed the importance of promoting Hawaii to potential visitors.
“Defunding them will mean employment for our neighbors will continue to evaporate,” he said, according to the Star Advertiser. “HTA is the fulcrum that will catapult Hawaii out of its financial misery. We hope you will reinstate full, or partial, TAT payments to HTA.”