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Committee presses HTA to ‘un‑silo’ destination management; HTA outlines island advisory DMAPs
Summary
A committee member urged the Hawaii Tourism Authority to coordinate destination-management efforts across counties; HTA described island advisory groups and public outreach used to identify overcrowded "hot spots" in Destination Management Action Plans (DMAPs). HCR 50/HR 46 was deferred for later decision-making.
A committee member at the Hawaii House Committee on Tourism hearing on March 31 urged the Hawaii Tourism Authority to "un‑silo" destination‑management work being done by counties and to involve legislators more directly in sharing information and solutions.
"One of the reasons why I introduced this because I felt like some of our ... destination management task force ... is siloed by each county," the committee member said during questioning. The member pressed HTA for a commitment to statewide coordination and for outreach to district representatives.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority representative responded that HTA will reach out to legislators throughout the year and described the agency's approach to the current round of Destination Management Action Plans. "In the development of this iteration of our DMAPs, we have established advisory groups for each island," the HTA representative said. "The advisory groups are comprised of members from the community, which represent ... the visitor industry, Hawaiian culture, natural resources, and we also have members from state agencies like DLNR, as well as the county, like the Office of Economic Development."
According to the HTA representative, the DMAP process included public and virtual information‑gathering sessions and consultations with advisory groups to identify and prioritize "hot spots"—locations at risk of overcrowding, natural‑resource degradation, or significant community concern. The representative said the process aims to produce community‑driven solutions to manage visitor impacts while supporting the visitor industry.
The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism also appeared as a registered presenter but the committee later deferred formal decision on the measure. During the hearing, the HTA representative confirmed that in counties without neighborhood‑board structures the agency supplemented outreach by meeting with community groups and holding virtual sessions.
The committee deferred HCR 50/HR 46 to a later date, leaving the DMAP process to continue without an immediate legislative directive. The record shows the committee asked HTA to improve cross‑county collaboration and to share findings with legislators as the DMAPs develop.
