Nadine K. Nakamura of Kapa’a has been appointed to succeed Gary Baldwin as the Kaua’i member of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). Baldwin, a former member of the county Planning Commission who continues working part-time with the Kauai Economic Development
Nadine K. Nakamura of Kapa’a has been appointed to succeed Gary Baldwin as the Kaua’i member of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA).
Baldwin, a former member of the county Planning Commission who continues working part-time with the Kauai Economic Development Board, asked Gov. Ben Cayetano not to re-appoint him to the board, due to health concerns.
His term expires June 30.
Nakamura has her own planning company, NKN Project Planning, and along with others facilitated much of the citizen involvement portion of the county General Plan update in 2000 and 2001.
Vice chair of the Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawaii, Nakamura is also involved in the new Hawai’i Homeownership Center, an entity designed to help first-time homebuyers in the state. The state’s four largest banks are participating in the project, providing funding for the planning phase.
The center is expected to open soon.
By law, the governor appoints four members of the HTA from lists submitted by the state speaker of the House and Senate president.
But Calvin Say, House speaker, who was supposed to send three names, sent only one, W. David P. Carey III, president and chief executive officer of Outrigger Enterprises, Inc. (Outrigger Hotels & Resorts), according to Cayetano.
When Cayetano told Say he was expecting three names, Say added the names of two other Outrigger employees to his list.
Cayetano rejected those two other Outrigger names, and in addition to Nakamura has appointed Lawrence Johnson, former chief executive officer of Pacific Century Financial Corp. (Bank of Hawaii parent company); Stephen Yamashiro, former Big Island mayor, to replace Millicent M.Y.H. Kim in the Big Island seat; Mike McCartney, former state senator and one-time member of Cayetano’s cabinet; and Alice Guild, former executive director of the Friends of Iolani Palace.
Nakamura’s arrival on the HTA board will come shortly after Cayetano said he felt the current board focused too much on the hotel industry, possibly to the detriment of the visitor industry as a whole.
“What has dominated the HTA over its short life has been this mentality, spawned mostly by the hotel people, that whatever is good for the hotels is good for tourism, and that’s not necessarily the case because there are larger goals that we have for tourism,” Cayetano said Thursday.
Although with Cayetano’s new appointees just two positions on the 11-member board will be held by those in the hotel industry, of the six current board members Cayetano named replacements for, just one is in the hotel industry.
The tourism agency receives $61 million a year from the state hotel room tax to promote Hawai’i as a tourist destination.
Baldwin like Carey has been a member of the HTA board since its inception in 1998. It was created by the state Legislature to promote tourism to Hawai’i.
Earlier this year, the HTA published its updated strategic plan, Ke Kumu, Strategic Directions for Hawaii’s Visitor Industry.
Of its eight strategic directions, none pertains specifically to the hotel industry. One does suggest tourism product diversification, which favors development of non-hotel visitor accommodations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
