Efforts to market Hawai'i as a business destination to the 6.5 million tourists who visit each year have bogged down over a lack of money, according to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. "Hawai'i Open for Business" is a theme Gov. Linda Lingle has promoted in Hawa'i and elsewhere during the past year as the state has shown its serious side at business events in Palo Alto, Calif., and San Diego and at a summit on homeland defense here in Honolulu.

However, a marketing plan that includes videos showcasing business opportunities in Hawai'i on airplanes, in hotel rooms, at the convention center, on the Internet and on signs at the Honolulu International Airport has yet to get off the ground.

A set of customized phone numbers acquired by the state several months ago to handle inquiries generated by the marketing remain unused. Part of the delay is deciding how to handle calls to the numbers, said Steve Bretschneider, DBEDT's deputy director and chief marketing officer. But an even greater issue is finding the money to pay for the marketing program, he said.

"If you put a phone number out there, you better be able to answer it," he said. "We're tight on people so we're looking at all kinds of ways to do it. We're really operating on a shoestring over here as you can imagine."

The idea behind the proposed campaign is to get business travelers, Mainland executives with homes in Hawai'i and other decision-makers to think about Hawai'i as a place for business by highlighting its resources in astronomy and ocean science, budding biotech industry and renewable energy technologies, among other assets.

"The people who are serious, they will find us," Bretschneider said. "What we're really looking for is the impulse market — people who are sitting around waiting for luggage."

Bretschneider blamed a $153,000-a-year cut by the Legislature in DBEDT's fiscal 2004 and 2005 marketing budget and a subsequent denial of $500,000 supplemental appropriation sought by Lingle for marketing purposes. The department's current marketing budget is $430,000 a year, Bretschneider said.

However, the lack of money to market Hawai'i as a business destination also may be a matter of priorities. In addition to the security summit here and trips to California, which were partially financed by cities and counties in that state, DBEDT plans to attend a biotech convention in San Francisco and an art expo to showcase Hawai'i's culture in China this summer.

"We have more plans than money," Bretschneider said.

Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), said he supports many of DBEDT's marketing ideas, but the state doesn't have the money right now to pay for them.

"If we did have some money, I think we could look at some of the ideas (DBEDT Director Ted Liu) had," Taniguchi said.

In coming weeks lawmakers may continue to tweak budget levels for various departments, he added. However, even Lingle now has eliminated the $500,000 added appropriation for DBEDT in an effort to balance the budget, Taniguchi said.

"We will be taking a second look, but everybody wants their stuff," he said. "I would think the DBEDT stuff is still a lower priority (compared with areas such as education and human services)."

Still, Bretschneider hopes to have a video to run at the Hawai'i Convention Center and on the Web site of the DBEDT this summer. Rather than shoot new images for the video, the department will repackage existing business-oriented footage, he said.

Efforts to market Hawai'i's business assets are key because most people who visit don't think of the state that way, said Mike Fitzgerald, president and chief executive of Enterprise Honolulu.

"Things like that are important and other areas are doing that," he said.

Fitzgerald said there's "an opportunity to build on and do more of those things," such as signs at the airport, hotels and the convention center "so we can capture that one person out of 100 that may be interested in doing business here."