Since we last reported on what’s going on with Hawaii marketing, the state’s Hawaii Tourism Authority and its marketing contractors, things have gotten much worse. We mention this from the point of view of visitors and the Hawaii travel industry, which is our sole focus. How Hawaii develops and conveys its messaging to the world is of critical importance to creating a good situation for all concerned.
As we anticipated would happen, the losing contractor, 100-year-old HVCB (Hawaii Visitor and Convention Bureau), filed its protest yesterday to the multi-year $100M contract award going to newcomer CNHA (Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement).
The contract is for the bulk of Hawaii’s tourism marketing, including its mainland brand management as well as global support services. There are other minor contracts that’ll be coming up soon, but we’ll focus for the time being on this one, which is by far the biggest and most important to Hawaii marketing.
