Hawaii Tourism Authority Awards US Brand Management Contract

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) has awarded a new contract for a comprehensive range of brand management and visitor education services for the Hawaiian Islands in the United States market.

The contract was awarded to the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which the HTA determined as a finalist after issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the U.S. market on April 15.

The HTA will negotiate a multi-year contract with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, which goes into effect on June 30 and ends on December 31, 2024. Hawaii's tourism agency retains the option to extend the agreement for an additional two years.

In addition to supporting services shared by Hawaii's brand management teams worldwide, the RFPs included coordination, communication and promotion for initiatives produced by the community through the Destination Management Action Plans.

The proposal also included support services for the state's official travel website, app, social media channels and creative content used for branding and visitor education.

Last month, Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) said the state's post-pandemic recovery was accelerated this spring as the islands hosted 818,268 visitors in April. The figure represents a 96.3 percent recovery from April 2019.

Visitors spent $1.6 billion in the islands in April, which is an increase of 21 percent compared to the $1.32 billion reported for April 2019.