Monahan, 52, a former Liberty House chief executive, takes the job at a time when HVCB’s role marketing the Islands to visitors worldwide is diminishing following a series of management missteps that led to the resignation of HVCB’s prior leader, Tony Vericella.

Vericella resigned in July after a state audit criticized the agency for its accounting practices and inappropriate use of state money. Since then, Les Enderton, executive director for the O’ahu Visitors Bureau, has been interim chief executive officer.

Earlier this year, Monahan was appointed trustee for Hawaiian Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy in March. He resigned after three weeks, citing personal reasons. According to HVCB, Monahan had been diagnosed with health concerns that have since been resolved.

The HVCB has long held the contract to promote Hawai'i to the world, but the Hawai'i Tourism Authority voted last month to spread out the $25 million state contract for tourism marketing.

HVCB received the largest portion as the marketer for North America, but 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.

This year the bureau also lost the Hawai'i Convention Center marketing contract, a decision made by the Hawai'i Tourism Authority to comply with a legislative mandate.

Other recent HVCB controversies include the failure of a contract with Disney Pictures for marketing Hawai'i and the animated film Lilo & Stitch. The agreement was cut short when state officials refused to pay for the deal because it was struck without their consent.