EDITORIAL
Time for change in visitor promotion

A decision by the Hawai'i Tourism Authority to break up its marketing agreements with a number of agencies beyond the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau signals what may be a major change in the way Hawai'i promotes itself to the world.

If that change produces higher levels of professionalism as well as a more sophisticated approach toward enticing travelers to our shores, it will be welcome.

But if the changes represent yet another opportunity for political meddling and second-guessing, it will represent little more than time and money wasted.

This is a crucial time for Hawai'i and the manner in which it markets itself. It is clear that the day is long gone when all we had to do is remind people of the sun and fun to be had here and they would come.

It's not that the people on the authority or with the HVCB were unaware of these new realities. Indeed, there have already been many changes in the way Hawai'i "sells" itself. This includes promoting new forms of tourism, such as eco-tourism, sports tourism, arts tourism and even agro-tourism.

It also includes some early efforts at promoting Hawai'i as a place to visit for business as well as for pleasure.

But the culture of those most intimately involved in promoting visitors still centered around the idea of reaching vacationers and enticing them here to fill our hotels and resorts.

That will always, obviously, be an important part of the mix. But the underlying mission of the Tourism Authority and those it hires to market Hawai'i should be substantially broadened.

The first signs of that happening was the authority's decision to take Japan, Asia and European marketing contracts away from the HVCB and give them to agencies in the target countries.

This should be an interesting experiment. Will those in-country agencies be more canny about what motivates their citizens to travel than the century-old visitors bureau?

But at a broader level, there must be a comprehensive rethinking of what we aim to accomplish through visitor promotion. Is it simply to attract more holiday-makers, or are we trying to attract business, investment and travelers who add to our social and economic climate?

In fact, the very name of the tourism authority may suggest too narrow a vision. Isn't the goal truly to attract visitors of all kinds?

The shakeup at the HVCB, a new lineup of members on the tourism authority board and the appointment by Gov. Linda Lingle of a Cabinet-level tourism liaison suggest a time of change is upon us.

It is critical that the change leave Hawai'i better prepared to battle for its share of a swiftly changing and increasingly global travel market.