U.S., April 26 -- It seems ever since the HTA President from November 2018 to August 2020, Chris Tatum, departed, the governmental tourism agency in Hawaii has been in a state of disarray.

One cannot ignore that the COVID pandemic was a major factor in this ball of confusion. COVID was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020 and endured nearly 3 years until May 2023 when the WHO declared the end of that public health emergency.

Culture Vs. Marketing After Tatum departed his lead position, John De Fries was named President and CEO. During his tenure from September 2020 to September 2023, De Fries moved the focus of the tourism authority from marketing it as a tourist destination to honing in on Hawaii's l...