ADB summit came in slightly under budget
By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer
State tourism officials spent an estimated $2.07 million in state and private money on last month's Asian Development Bank meeting — $69,000 less than budgeted — sparing some money that had been pledged from tourism marketing efforts.
The Hawai'i Tourism Authority, which administered part of the state's contribution to the event, collected roughly $2.14 million from sponsors, event and exhibition fees, convention center resources, and its own tourism marketing money, authority officials said.
Expenses for food and beverage, transportation for delegates, entertainment, hospitality, office furniture, constructing a media center and myriad other details came in at $2.07 million.
"By and large, we operated in the budget we were given to work from," said authority chief executive officer Robert Fishman. "There was an absence of surprises."
The estimates, which are expected to be final June 30, do not include spending by other state agencies such as the Department of Public Safety, which supplied some security services. They also do not cover costs to the Honolulu city government, which supplied police and other services.
The tourism authority pledged up to $525,000 from its annual $61 million tourism development and promotion budget for the event. But the board's chief administrative officer, Lloyd Unebasami, said that money is "the last pot" he dips into to pay bills from the event, so the anticipated $69,000 surplus will mean the authority spent $456,000.
The tourism authority money, Fishman said, was supposed to be earmarked for security expenses incurred by the Honolulu Police Department, which could make them eligible for federal reimbursement.
Fishman said he expects that the federal government will reimburse some expenses from the meeting, and that security costs — many of which were borne by the Honolulu Police Department and by some state agencies — are most likely to collect on that.
"The law enforcement dollars are likely to be most eligible for federal reimbursement," he said. "They would get the lion's share of it, by far."
Food and beverage accounted for the largest single expense on the authority's rundown, coming in at $357,000. Other big ticket items included $171,000 for ground transportation, $136,000 for contract security and $98,000 for building a media center. Fishman emphasized that the $69,000 surplus is a good estimate, but that final invoices are still coming in.
