The offer came as the Hawai'i Tourism Authority began discussions yesterday with the five marketing agencies it has chosen to promote the state, starting with HVCB.

HVCB has long held the contract to promote Hawai'i to the world, but the tourism authority voted last week to parcel out the $25 million agreement, with HVCB receiving the largest slice as the marketer for North America.

Dentsu Inc. was selected to market Hawai'i to Japan, Marketing Garden to the rest of Asia, The Mangum Group to Europe and The Walshe Group to Oceania.

Cutting up the contract means the agencies will need to coordinate the message they'll convey about Hawai'i.

"What is Japan going to say? What is Australia going to say?" asked Tony Guerrero, HVCB's chairman, who said the tourism authority will need to address such questions. "Someone is going to have to manage the whole thing. HVCB would be willing to do that."

Authority marketing director Frank Haas said the authority will set overall strategies for Hawai'i's brand and image.

"We want to remain true to the brand but we also want to make the brand relative to other markets," Haas said.

But some in the tourism industry question whether the state agency and its 17 employees have the resources and expertise to do the job.

Tourism authority board chairman Mike McCartney said it is premature to say whether HVCB could take on a broader role in the marketing effort.

The meetings with the agencies will continue over the coming weeks, with the authority aiming for signed agreements before the contracts are to go into effect Jan.1.

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday repeated her concern that the new marketing arrangement raises major issues, including how the state will maintain a unified image of Hawai'i.

Lingle also questioned how the visitor bureaus on the Neighbor Islands, all part of HVCB, will interact with the other agencies.

She said it is up to the tourism authority to settle these issues.

"If these questions that were raised get resolved, then they'll come back and say, 'Here, we resolved them. Here are the answers.' Then they'll have to get authorization (from the tourism authority's board) to actually go and sign the contract," Lingle said.

Some supporters of HVCB are concerned that the other marketing agencies selected have represented visitor destinations that compete with Hawai'i for tourists.

But the tourism authority said such work adds to the agencies' experience in destination marketing. Haas said it does not raise conflict-of-interest issues.