Posted on: Tuesday, April 1, 2003

EDITORIAL
Tourism money needs better justification

When President Bush asked Congress for $74.7 billion to pay for the war against Iraq and strengthen domestic counterterrorism efforts, he had to account for how the money would be spent.

So why is the state House Finance Committee willing to hand the Hawai'i Tourism Authority $8 million for some vague war-related tourism recovery effort with hardly any details about where the money will go? According to the measure, the HTA doesn't have to account for how that $8 million is spent until Dec. 15, nearly nine months away.

Right now, the marketing of Hawai'i as a surf-and-sand leisure destination has been suspended in response to war sensitivities. But under the HTA's war contingency plan, it says, it will redirect spending for brand advertising to such marketing and public relations efforts as having Gov. Linda Lingle encourage travel to Hawai'i.

How is that more expensive?

Sure, the HTA may need extra money to cope with the economic fallout of war. But unlike some lawmakers, we'd like more details before we further pad the HTA's coffers.