The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) was caught red handed with a mountain of problems, ineffectiveness and favorism after a less-than-favorable audit. Hawaii lawmakers are pushing to hold the Hawaii Tourism Authority more accountable through a bill that would slash the state agency’s funding.
HTA President and CEO George Szigeti was under impressions, last year’s record tourism results — the 9.4 million visitors who came to Hawaii and the $16.8 billion that they spent — helped support 204,000 jobs and returned nearly $2 billion in taxes to the state.
What is overlooked of course is the reason Hawaii Tourism is booming. Can this really be accounted for activities by the Hawaii Tourism Authority?
