The appointment ended a six-month search that was slowed by the difficulty of finding someone to take the job with a government salary, Lingle said.

Lingle first announced plans to create the tourism liaison position during her gubernatorial campaign last year.

With a tourism advocate in the governor's cabinet, industry executives hope to raise the profile of the $10 billion visitor industry among state agencies and push tourism issues to the forefront of the governor's agenda.

Industry leaders also want to see better coordination between state tourism officials and other government departments for improvements benefiting tourism.

But beyond their hopes, some in the industry voice concern that the tourism liaison may have little influence because she lacks a bud-get and a staff of her own. Worse, they fear, her office may create another layer of bureaucracy.

For her part, Wienert is upbeat about her job, which will be to work with the tourism industry, government and the community to coordinate the state's long-term tourism strategy.

"We have a lot of challenges ahead of us, but we also have lots of opportunities," she said.

Wienert originally chaired Lingle's search committee for tourism liaison candidates, and was not under consideration as a finalist for the position. She submitted the names of three top choices earlier this year, but two were reluctant because of the noncompetitive pay and one did not want to move to Honolulu, Lingle said.

"All of us came back to Marsha," Lingle said.

Wienert, executive director of the Maui Visitors Bureau since 1994, worked for tourism businesses on the island for about eight years. She has known the governor, who was mayor of Maui County from 1991 to 1998, for 12 years, but was not involved in Lingle's campaigns, she said.

During the search, Lingle considered seeking money from business associations to help pay for the tourism liaison's salary, but that idea drew criticism from legislators and others concerned that private money could lead to conflicts of interest.

Wienert will instead draw the standard state director's salary of about $85,000 paid through the budget of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Wienert starts July 1.

One of Wienert's first tasks will be to increase flights into Hawai'i from Mainland and international destinations.

She will also be responsible for defining performance measures for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority,

developing the administration's tourism legislative package and advising the governor on marketing of the Hawai'i Convention Center.

"Almost every country that we compete with has a minister of tourism or director of tourism or some point person in government, and now we do as well," Lingle said.

Tourism industry leaders were heartened by the appointment.

"Coordination among the various constituencies that deal with our visitors is really critical and long overdue," said Perry Sorenson, chief operating officer of Outrigger Hotels & Resorts. "I think that Marsha is an outstanding choice."

Rex Johnson, executive director of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, praised the appointment of a tourism veteran.

Before joining the Maui Visitors Bureau, Wienert was Maui vice president of marketing for Amfac/JMB Hawaii.