Our Strategic Plan

Our Mission

To strategically manage Hawaiʻi tourism in a sustainable manner consistent with economic goals, cultural values, preservation of natural resources, community desires and visitor industry needs.

The 2026-2030 Strategic Plan provides a renewed back-to-basics strategic framework for Hawai‘i tourism – refocusing on what matters most: strengthening competitiveness, deepening collaboration, and ensuring that tourism creates greater value for residents and communities as well as for visitors and the visitor industry. We monitor four Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to gauge progress in this framework:

• Resident Sentiment
• Average Daily Visitor Spending
• Visitor Satisfaction
• Total Visitor Spending

We fulfill three core responsibilities described by our governing statute, HRS 201B, to foster a regenerative tourism economy for Hawaiʻi. These three core responsibilities are expressed as Pillars centered on achieving a clear Objective by 2030.

Strategic Pillar 1: Brand Marketing

Inspire high-value visitation that respects our culture, environment, and communities.

2030 Objective: Differentiate Hawai‘i through branding that recognizes our unique culture and local values, drives economic vitality, and respects community needs. Attract well-defined, high-value visitor segments with targeted marketing strategies that deliver measurable, high returns on investment.

Success in this Pillar is measured by:

• Growth in Average Daily Visitor Spending (ADVS)
• The annual growth rate of visitor spending outpaces growth rate of visitor arrivals.
• An increase in return on investment for advertising (dollars spent on media) on spending and tax revenue from “ad-aware” visitors.
• Increased intent to travel in Major Market Areas.
• An increase in visitor spending and visitor arrivals in shoulder seasons to generate activity without straining capacity.

Strategic Pillar 2: Experience Development

Cultivate meaningful, place-based experiences that benefit communities and engage visitors.

2030 Objective: With a “community-first” focus, develop sustainable and regenerative visitor experiences that revitalize communities, create economic opportunities, and address the interests of high-value visitors.

Success in this Pillar is measured by:

• Improved visitor satisfaction ratings for “Exceeded Expectations.”
• Improved resident sentiment by rising agreement with “Tourism has brought more benefits than problems.”
• Improved visitor satisfaction rating for “Unique experiences.”
• An increase in visitor spending and visitor arrivals in shoulder seasons to generate activity without straining capacity.

Strategic Pillar 3: Tourism Leadership

Lead collaboration, data, and accountability to shape a thriving tourism future.

2030 Objective: Lead tourism in partnership with the Legislature, state, county, industry, and community partners to deliver more “net positive” outcomes and build the visitor economy’s strength and resilience. Communicate clearly and collaboratively so that everyone understands their stake in tourism.

Success in this Pillar is measured by:

• Improved resident sentiment that “Tourism is being better managed on my island” and “HTA actively works to manage tourism in our state through its DMAPs.”
• Increasing partner satisfaction in HTA collaborations as measured by a new annual partner survey.
• Increased funding for initiatives in this Strategic Plan.