By David Shapiro

The Hawai'i Tourism Authority's recent controversies over new turf at Aloha Stadium and a promotional deal with Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" raise new fears that the marketing of our leading industry is in shaky hands.

Both cases reveal alarming management lapses: unclear goals, immeasurable results, shifting cost estimates, secretive deal-making, hasty last-minute decisions and ego-driven turf warfare.

Efforts by Gov. Ben Cayetano and the Legislature to diversify HTA's board and make the agency more accountable can't happen soon enough.

In the turf case, the tourism authority made a deal with the National Football League to replace the artificial turf at Aloha Stadium with a new surface the NFL deems more appropriate for the Pro Bowl, which we host at a cost of $22 million for five years.

Since the HTA is paying $500,000 for the new turf, with help from the NFL, it negotiated the deal without involving the Aloha Stadium Authority, which runs the stadium and has final say on the turf change.

A clash of egos ensued, along with legitimate questions by the stadium authority about hidden installation and maintenance costs and the impact on high school sports and other events.

The stadium board finally approved the new turf, but possibly too late to have it installed in time for the 2003 Pro Bowl. The stadium authority still seems unconvinced that the new turf is necessary, and some issues of cost and impact remain unclear.

In the latest bizarre twist, University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones charged that the stadium authority terminally "pissed ... off" the NFL and blew any chance of Hawai'i's Pro Bowl contract being renewed.

If that's true, why bother paying a penny to replace the stadium turf?

In the "Lilo and Stich" matter, the tourism authority is the party with the stepped-on toes. The Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau negotiated a secret deal with Disney to promote Hawai'i in conjunction with the movie, without getting the required HTA approval for the $1.7 million expenditure.

Days before the film's debut, full details of the deal still have not been made public, and it's uncertain whether the contract is approved or not.

Decisions shrouded in secrecy and put off until the last minute create a phony crisis atmosphere that defeats reasoned consideration and public understanding.

And the frenzied decision-making skirts discussion of whether movie deals and stadium turf are fruitful ways to spend our tourism promotion dollars.

Advocates defend the Pro Bowl and "Lilo & Stitch" promotions as invaluable exposure that enhances Hawai'i's reputation among potential visitors.

Maybe so, but Hawai'i residents who travel know that this is reinventing the wheel. Nearly everybody we meet is well aware of what Hawai'i has to offer and eager to visit.

Maybe our tourism promotion dollars would be better spent on appealing travel packages that get these folks on airplanes and targeted marketing of specific demographic groups with high potential to increase visitor spending.

The value of the Pro Bowl and "Lilo & Stitch" deals can't be precisely measured, but general results of this philosophy of tourism marketing can be gauged.

While public funding of tourism promotion has increased in the last decade from less than $20 million to more than $50 million, visitor spending here has grown only marginally.

The governor recently signed a bill to expand the HTA's board beyond the hotel representatives who now dominate it and make the agency more accountable to the Legislature.

Involving more segments of the Hawai'i economy in tourism marketing can only help — if the players park their egos long enough to see the common good.

David Shapiro can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net