The head of a California-based company that sends hundreds of thousands of travelers to Hawai'i each year said a proposed $10 million boost in marketing funds will help the state stay competitive in a world of higher airfares and increasing competition from Mexico and the Caribbean.

That's the expert opinion of Jack Richards, president and chief executive officer of California-based Pleasant Holidays LLC. Gov. Linda Lingle and various hoteliers last week recommended spending the additional money on marketing on top of an estimated $54 million already budgeted by the Hawai'i Tourism Authority.

"It's a great start," Richards said. "It's never enough, but it's better than what we have today."

Richards has more than 20 years of management in travel wholesale operations and online travel agency experience. Pleasant Holidays works through travel agencies nationwide, sending nearly 500,000 visitors a year to the destinations it serves.

He said Hawai'i was hardest hit by the demise of both Aloha and ATA airlines — especially since ATA was the low-cost carrier from the West Coast.

"The Islands will lose over a million seats a year," Richards said. "1.1 million airline seats have come out of the market since April." He said that translates to a decrease of 17 percent from the West Coast.

Richards applauded the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau and private sector executives, who moved quickly to expand marketing efforts as visitor arrivals began to slump.

"Doing nothing is not an option," he said.

And spending on promotion keeps travelers thinking about Hawai'i as a much-desired vacation destination, and one that's still a good value, he said.

Richards said competition is fiercer from the Caribbean and Mexico, where travelers don't have to face air travel prices driven sky-high by fuel prices. "They are fighting very hard for the business."

Is $10 million more enough? "It's a good start," he replied.

He said money spent this year will likely have the biggest impact in 2009.

"It's an awareness campaign," Richards said, adding the state should remind people of its strong points of scenic beauty, climate, culture and the spirit of aloha, which "cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the world."

Richards, who was in Hawai'i last month, usually comes to the state four to eight times a year. Although the company markets significantly to other visitor destinations, Hawai'i is still the biggest destination of its customers, he said.

In addition to the travel agents sending clients to the Islands, the company also employs about 200 people here, Richards said, managing 36 activity desks on four islands.

He said Las Vegas is spending $40 million in marketing, the Caribbean is spending $60 million and the state of California $50 million.

But Richards remains optimistic that Hawai'i has the resources to remain competitive, which also helps his company stay successful.

"We have a vested interest in the success of Hawai'i."