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Workforce Development

A skilled and competitive workforce is essential for a successful visitor destination.

Workforce Development

Encouraging Hawai‘i’s high school and college-age students to choose tourism as their career is an important part of HTA’s mission.

Sustaining tourism success depends on the young people of Hawai‘i helping carry the industry forward and becoming the next generation of leaders. HTA is helping support programs that show Hawai‘i’s youth they can have a career where their energy, insight, and opinions are needed to help move the state forward.

HTA supports the L.E.I. (Leadership, Exploration, Inspiration) Program on O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i and the Island of Hawai‘i, which brings 1,000 teens from throughout the state in direct contact with hotels, businesses, and tourism industry leaders. In the program, the future engages the present.

HTA also offers support with certification and training programs to help elevate the current industry workforce development through the University of Hawai‘i’s community college system.

Image of a student participant with ClimbHI. He is carrying a plate of food in each hand and participating in hospitality training and learning to setup for events.

Providing a Pathway for Hawai‘i’s Youth

The HTA has partnered with ClimbHI, a local non-profit organization to inspire Hawai‘i’s youth to pursue careers in the Hawai‘i visitor industry through the LEI (Lead, Expose, Inspire) Program. LEI is an annual statewide event held every April comprising of inspiration and leadership through guest speakers and Hawaiian culture and hospitality training, site visits to a lodging property for an overview of the lodging sector including a dining etiquette piece for lunch, and an afternoon career fair to expose students to the variety of career options and opportunities in the visitor industry. 

In 2025, the 13th Annual LEI Program successfully hosted 1,180 high school students across five day-long events statewide, igniting interest in careers within Hawaiʻi’s visitor industry. Following the events, student surveys showed a 24% increase in those considering a career in the hospitality or culinary sectors, and an 18% increase in positive opinions about tourism in Hawaiʻi, underscoring LEI’s effectiveness in developing the next generation of industry professionals.

For more information about this initiative, contact Lindsay Sanborn at 808-973-2264 or via email at [email protected]

HTA Work Wise program. Image is in an airplane hangar with a propeller plane with the engine exposed. An instructor is speaking to students that are standing on the side.

Work Wise Program

In 2024, the HTA launched its inaugural “HTA Work Wise” program in partnership with ClimbHI. The Work Wise program was created for recent high school graduates and current students from 16 to 18 years of age interested in part-time or seasonal work. Students also received expedited application processes for current job openings based on their interests. Fifty-three Maui and O‘ahu public high school graduates and students have received invaluable exposure to potential jobs and career pathways in Hawai‘i’s diverse visitor industry through this program. Participants included 13 students on Maui, primarily from Lahainaluna and Baldwin High Schools; 22 students from West O‘ahu schools, and 18 students from Honolulu.

For more information about this initiative, contact Lindsay Sanborn at 808-973-2264 or via email at [email protected]

Image of five Hawaiʻi Tourism Hoʻoilina scholars (in caps and gowns) at their graduation from the University of Hawaiʻi.

Hawai‘i Tourism Ho‘oilina Scholarships

The Hawai‘i Tourism Ho‘oilina Scholarship program is a partnership between the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), Hawai‘i Lodging & Tourism Association (HLTA), and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Shidler College of Business, School of Travel Industry Management, with funding generously provided through support from the Hawai‘i State Legislature. 

The Ho‘oilina scholarship is a four-year scholarship awarded to five (5) Hawai‘i public high school graduates who enroll at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and declare a major in Travel Industry Management (TIM). The annual funding pays for tuition.  For more information and application materials please visit: Hawai‘i Tourism Ho’oilina Scholarship | The Shidler College of Business

For more information about this initiative, contact Dede Howa at 808-973-2265 or via email at [email protected].

Visitor Industry Workforce Needs Assessment

HTA has commissioned Anthology Research to conduct an assessment of the current and future workforce needs of Hawai‘i’s visitor industry and related sectors. The initiative is a part of HTA’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, supporting our community pillar to build a resilient visitor industry workforce and community. A final report was received and is available by clicking on this link: Visitor Industry Workforce Needs Assessment 

According to HTA’s Destination Management Action Plans (DMAPs), stakeholders value the importance of having an official state-wide tour guide certification program in the state of Hawai’i. Nevertheless, different stakeholders view functions and values of current Certification for Hawai’i’s Professional Tour Guides Program differently. In consideration of moving to a formal licensing program in the future, HTA, through the partnership with the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA) and the University of Hawaiʻi School of Travel Industry Management, conducted a landscape analysis to explore strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with current program offerings.

Access the final report here: Study of Formulation and Implementation of a Formal Licensing Program in the Future