HB1947 would repeal the Hawaii Tourism Authority and replace it with a new Office of Tourism housed within the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. The bill transfers the authority’s branding, marketing, research, convention center, and tourism coordination functions to the new office, and creates an advisory board on tourism to provide oversight and representation from the counties, industry, and Hawaiian cultural practices. It also directs the office to develop a statewide strategic tourism management plan, county destination management action plans, annual reports, and measures of effectiveness, with an emphasis on destination stewardship and regenerative tourism.
The measure also restructures several related statutory provisions to reflect the new office, including attorney representation rules, special fund references, tax exemptions tied to convention center reimbursements, transient accommodations tax distributions, and membership on the environmental management commission. It establishes a tourism emergency special fund and a convention center enterprise special fund, and it authorizes the office to contract for tourism promotion, research, event coordination, and convention center operations. The bill includes a general fund appropriation for new office staff positions, while preserving employee status, contracts, records, and existing rules during the transition from the Hawaii Tourism Authority to the new office.
If enacted, the bill would repeal chapter 201B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, eliminate the Hawaii Tourism Authority as a standalone entity, and shift its statutory powers and duties to a newly created Office of Tourism within DBEDT. It would amend multiple statutes to replace references to the authority with the office, redirect special fund administration and transient accommodations tax allocations, and preserve existing contracts, personnel rights, and administrative materials. The bill would also create new governance, reporting, and emergency-response structures affecting tourism stakeholders, the convention center, county agencies, and state financial administration.
The bill text reflects a strongly reform-oriented and critical view of the current tourism governance structure, citing audit findings, management deficiencies, and a need for organizational change. The committee context shows the measure did not advance cleanly at this stage: the last recorded action was a JHA recommendation that the bill be deferred. No vote tally or transcript is provided, so the available record suggests the proposal was significant and likely controversial, but there is not enough committee discussion in the materials to identify broad support or opposition beyond the deferment.
The main point of contention appears to be whether Hawaii should abolish the Hawaii Tourism Authority and centralize tourism management inside DBEDT, rather than preserve an independent authority. Likely concerns include the loss of a separate tourism governance body, the concentration of authority in the department director, and the practical effects on existing contracts, staff, and special funds. The bill also introduces policy shifts toward destination management and regenerative tourism, which may draw debate over implementation, county cooperation, and how tourism promotion should balance economic development with environmental and cultural stewardship.