Posted on: Thursday, March 21, 2002

EDITORIAL
HTA must sell itself to retain its budget

As important as marketing is to our visitor industry, the work conducted by the Hawai'i Tourism Authority should not be protected from the budget squeeze that is about to hit almost every state function.

But that sentiment doesn't necessarily translate into the nearly 20 percent cut in funding for the authority proposed by the state Senate this week.

The Senate appears prepared to reduce funding for the authority from today's $61 million to some $50 million. The money comes from the so-called "hotel room tax," actually the transient accommodations tax.

The proposed cuts are too steep. They are out of proportion to cuts proposed or likely for other state functions.

And they go against a general principal that says that in difficult times, it makes sense to promote and market your core product, in this case tourism.

One senses that the proposed trims go beyond mere budget-balancing. Lawmakers have been critical of the Tourism Authority on a variety of fronts, ranging from hiring and contracting practices to promotional philosophy. And at times the authority and the industry it supports have been their own worst enemy. A recent audit suggested it had little awareness that it is accountable to the Legislature and the taxpayers.

If the authority expects to keep most of what it now receives, it must do a far better job of accounting for its actions and monitoring the tens of millions it hands out for promotional purposes.

Properly spent, tourism marketing dollars don't represent a "cost"; they represent an investment that will be repaid many times over in increased visitor arrivals and a higher quality of "product" for the world's travelers.

That's the job ahead for the authority: to convince lawmakers that the money is being well spent and that the return exceeds the investment. If it cannot make that case, then big budget trims are on their way just as sure as the sun shines on Waikiki.