EDITORIAL
Public deserves details on deal with Disney

Tomorrow, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority finally gets to hear more details of a "Lilo and Stitch" movie marketing deal that Tony Vericella, chief executive officer of the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau, has struck with the Walt Disney Co.

Originally, Vericella and Disney discussed a multiyear $3.9 million deal to promote travel to Hawai'i via the movie. While an agreement was signed Friday, the financial details are still very hush-hush.

Naturally, we want to know what the state is buying into, but apparently, the bureau can keep the agreement "confidential" because as yet, it's between two private entities, Disney and HVCB.

For starters, we think it's a stretch to call the HVCB private since most of its budget is financed by the hotel room tax fund via the state-created HTA.

Nonetheless, until the HTA commits public money to the deal, which is expected, we won't know the details and can't say whether it's a good deal or not.

The HTA board will likely close its doors to the public when the matter comes up tomorrow because the contract may contain proprietary information that Disney doesn't want made public.

If this is such a promising deal, then why all the secrecy?

Vericella began discussions with Disney in February, but didn't announce the "Lilo & Stitch" contract to the HTA until late May. The movie opens this month.

That irked some on the HTA board, which is supposed to approve any marketing agreement worth $500,000 or more that is not part of the annual tourism plan.

It also begs the question of who's calling the shots: the bureau or the tourism authority created in 1998 to oversee the HVCB and make it more accountable?

The HVCB started out as a small tourism promotion organization in 1892. Since 1959, it has been defined in the state statutes as the authorized marketer for state tourism and thus viewed as quasi-governmental.

For some time, it received equal amounts of private and public support. But public financing grew as the state put more focus on tourism as its main industry and the HVCB essentially became the state's tourism-marketing arm.

Today, the bureau receives 45 million hotel tax dollars a year from the HTA to promote Hawai'i as a tourist destination. It also received an additional $10 million in emergency tourism promotion funds in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

With so much public money in its coffers, the HVCB should meet the highest standards of accountability. And if Disney wants confidentiality, maybe it shouldn't be striking a deal with an agency whose investors are the people of Hawai'i.