 Think tech Hawaii civil engagement lives here That's movie Adam and used to be mayor he's been all over the place You know, we're gonna have a CV a CV fest and all the things he's done But we don't have a time in the show to do a CV fest So we just say formally the mayor now. He's the CEO and president of HLT No connection with Long Tennis why You got me the Hawaii Lodging and tourism association. Yes, okay HLTA and he's done really incredible things in the past few years and I saw him last only a few weeks ago at the visitor industry charity walk, which was really terrific and and these kids from McKinley the McKinley band were all around him They loved him. He made a few statements We haven't done our movie on OC 16 if you want to see what movies said to the kids and McKinley band You can see that welcome to the show movie. Thank you Jay. I was good to see you. You're always good for a laugh or two Yeah, we had a standing ovation Before before the show began you want to tell the background of that? Well, it was in in the city council chambers And it was a bill that you were pushing very passionately for and I happened to be on the same side of you With you on that issue and we made some progress on it And there you were you got up it was usually a chamber that you know decorum and protocol and the like and you gave me the standing ovation So how did the visitor war do I mean it seemed to me that it had a lot of vitality On all sides of the coin, you know, it's one of these things has been we've been doing for 40 years Jay And it's part of the visitor industry's way of giving back to the community and It's grown phenomenally It's held on every island because we have neighbor island chapters in every county and this year We raised nearly two point five million dollars and counting which is an all-time record. That's great Yeah, and we're gonna be able to help Well over 350 a non-profit organizations All the money that is raised on that island stays on that island. So the night Molokai Maui kawaii big island And a while get to keep that money there So we and we do it every year It happens the same time the first few weekends in May But it's a year-long effort in terms of the planning that goes into it the preparation And just to see the people come out whether it's the youth Whether it's a kupuna Whether it's people in the military They sort of all come together because they recognize that this is a great cause and and we love doing it from the hospitality industry We sort of follow the admonition to much is given much is required and this is why we do it every year without fail Well, you know, it's there's a public policy issue there as far as the connection of the sectors, you know You know hospitality is really the biggest industry these days Used to be the three legs of the stool. Do you remember its military agriculture and hospitality now it's pretty much hospitality So it's very important that we have this industry and very important that we support it And we make it efficient and profitable and we participate in it But but we also have to have connection with it We can't you know, let it go adrift and it can't let us go adrift We have to have this connection and I think the visitor walk and the fundraising that you mentioned It's all part of that it's part of a larger effort am I right to connect the two exactly and you know, we recognize that Ours is an industry that's very fragile Either man-made or natural disasters can cause us to go south And so in the good times you have to ride that wave as long as possible And at the same time we have to do all we can and this is where the connection comes in Whether it's government the private sector Labor Everybody all coming together to ensure that we can keep this industry as strong as possible because you're exactly right We're very dependent on tourism and we recognize that all the diversification efforts of the state Have not gone as well as as probably we imagined or dreamed about and everything comes back to tourism It's our core competence. It's what we do very well. Yeah How exactly well is it doing these days? We have about 10 12 million people coming here every year We have an enormous juggernaut of tourist activity here Yeah, we're not this year. We'll probably hit 10 million But we have been growing incrementally doing the past six years six Years of growth every year and it usually doesn't happen that way It would come in two or three year cycles and we'd kind of hit a slump and then we'd go back up again But we've been blessed. We've been very fortunate, but at the same token competition is intense All over And we also have some issues we have to talk about here at home and that is how much tourists Is it's too many for Hawaii? Should we be Doing more with the quality of tourism that we'd like to see it Should we do doing more with our attractions with our resources? Should we ensure that the local people will always feel connected and that we're just not doing these things That we can bring more visitors here. So all those things all play very nicely in terms of one of Overall, I should say one very dominant message that we put out there that it's an industry that we would be very fortunate It provides the greatest number of jobs But at the same time we have to be looking at the quality of that industry The quality of those jobs and our quality of life. Yeah So you have many organizations We call them community services or trade association or nonprofit organizations that feed into this This this kind of group of organizations that are in In the industry around the industry and I've always felt that hlta y lodging tourism association Is going to be the biggest one. It's going to be the one at the point. It's going to be the one that is most Engaged with the hotels most engaged with the workers the unions if you will most engaged with the activities that take place And why can't you am I right about that? I think you're right But I think we also recognize that we can't do it alone. We need collaboration across the board But I think one of the advantages we bring the table is that we started off as a hotel association purely a hotel association HHA yes, and and we've been around for 70 years And then we moved into what we call the hawai hotel and lodging association and when I came on board I felt that we needed to do the big tent And encompass all of tourism so we changed our name to the hawaii lodging and tourism association So we still have A dominant group in our organization made up of hotels But the biggest number of members are what we call our allied members These are organizations that are not hotels very dependent on tourism where it's the royal hawaii center Whether it's hawaii and alaskan airlines, whether it's a polynesian cultural center So our organization also is driven by the fact that we do not rely on government funds We're strictly private sector driven. We rely on our dues and contributions That businesses give us and our mission is threefold education Of the importance of tourism To the public to the public and to our members We don't want our members taking it for granted the jobs will always be there You're not advocacy. We have to advocate whether it's in The state capitol or the county council chambers or in the community itself as they grapple with the issues of tourism And last but not least is philanthropy, which you saw with the charity walk with the scholarships that we give every year That gets everybody's attention for sure that gets everybody's attention So it's it's a threefold mission But it's all neatly wrapped in this package that we call The preservation and the strengthening of tourism You've been there for several years already. Yeah, I think it was a great placement, but that's just my opinion And I wonder how how it's changed under you and how it's changed for you I brought a very strong neighbor island focus We've always had the neighbor islands part of it, but as many things happen Oftentimes things become whole a little eccentric or while centric and I've really changed that I Philosophies I took with me government when I was mayor I formed the hawai council of mayors where the mayor for a little was on the same level With the mayor of Maui, kawaii And the big islands and I've done the same with our organization That the neighbor islands feel very very well represented building bridges. Yeah, secondly We've also reached out to the allied members and we've grown that part of it where people recognize that we're not just a hotel Organization as important as that may be But we want everybody to feel connected to tourism and that we're all in this together And thirdly, we've enhanced the things that we've done in the past. For example, we've got we've brought in our reach with scholarships We've got hospitality scholarships now that we give to high school students. We never did that before We have member scholarships that we provide for our members of McKinley and the band We have culinary scholarships We do all of that and then within the organization we formed various subcommittees now It used to be just the membership committee and the charity walk committee now. We have a women in lodging committee It's all about strengthening the women in the workforce and ensuring that women recognize and are going to be appreciated for being in the industry But also they are Attaining some of the best jobs that we have building careers. Yes, we have And this is something I've always been big on jay is mentoring We've started an organization patterned after the pacific century fellows program that i've done for several years now That takes mid-career professionals and gives them an opportunity to come together once a month And then it's kind of like a college fraternity where They they bond with each other in the classes. We had 16 classes in hawai But also With with the groups at large. So we've started something called the hospitality young professional entrepreneurs We call it hype hype it up where we're really reaching out to the millennials. They feel we have an engineering council We now have a housekeepers council All those things Oh, you've been busy Yeah, all those things lend itself to the fact that people feel connected and they feel that Whatever aspect of it that you're interested in the industry or just in business or our environment or our quality life We have an opportunity for you to be involved with us because of these committees. Yeah careers connection So how about you though? You know, it's been oh my gosh. My goodness with eight ten years since you were mayor And how have you changed? How has this changed you? I think you have a little more gray But the hair's still there You know, I I've come to learn to appreciate Appreciate it's not where you serve. It's how you serve And I also have recognized very strongly that We can all make contributions to the community Wherever we are in life and certainly I've enjoyed Being in the public sector I enjoy the years that I served as mayor as a city council member as a director of Under an administration such as governor waha and governor arioshi And working in washington dc for four different presidents, but at the same time life goes on One door closes another door opens and I've recognized that it's important that no matter where you are to continue to give back And that's where I get my biggest joy and fulfillment Is wherever job that I've gone to I've always made sure that we're improving enhancing and leaving the place better than we found It and I've never stopped the things that I've done I still do scholarship state that I started many years ago I give out scholarships every year in my parents name For for scholar athletes, I do Harvard book awards I take a girl's basketball team every year to the mainland compete and I remember when I first went into women's basketball 25 years ago the guys just tell me What are you doing with girls man? They can't play basketball. It's the guys and it's changed. It's evolved There's a patsy mink and toddler line and gender equity And of course the pacific sentry fellows program that I've talked about so I do a lot of things I I enjoy radio. I do two radio shows Friday And another one on on cool glow there at Salem media and I write in midweek So it's it's very fulfilling. It keeps me busy. It keeps me energized And by the same token always looking to make a difference in wherever I've gone Well, that brings me to a question that I did want to ask you and I guess you can anticipate my question as long you're you're into public service for sure And you you know, you deal with community you you connect with the community and always was always will be And everyone knows who you are Everyone knows who you are movie Say movie. I mean everybody knows so Is there is there another chapter of political life for you coming soon, you know, I I called this my sabbatical period So I've been on an extended sabbatical. I'm enjoying it But then again in life you never say never to attend anything whatever it might be So I'm enjoying what I'm doing now and I don't have any plans in 2018 Certainly, I'm going to keep a watchful eye on a number of issues and And and seats that are out there, especially when it relates to tourism or people just wanting to do well I think they need to be supported. So I'm not have gone exactly silent on these things there But I think for now I'm in a good place And the door is always open in the future. Okay. Well, the question does present itself pretty regularly to me Let's take a short break. Okay. Moofi will come back and we'll talk some more about the other agencies that are involved The relationships that are involved and I do want to cover that question You arranged with odd stender has taken a position on this is too many tourists We can talk about that too Everyone I'm disoto brown the co-host of human humane architecture Which is seen on think tech hawaii every other Tuesday at 4 p.m And with the show's host martin dispang we discuss architecture here in the Hawaiian islands and how it not only affects the way we live But other aspects of our life not only here in Hawaii, but internationally as well So join us for human humane architecture every other Tuesday at 4 p.m on think tech hawaii Hey, aloha stand energy man here on think tech hawaii where community matters This is the place to come To think about all things energy We talk about energy for the grid energy for vehicles energy and transportation energy and maritime energy and aviation We have all kinds of things on our show But we always focus on hydrogen here in Hawaii because it's my favorite thing That's what I like to do But we talk about things that make a difference here in hawaii things that Should be a big changer for hawaii And we hope that you'll join us every friday at noon on stand the energy man And take a look with us at new technologies and new thoughts on how we can get clean and green in hawaii aloha Okay, we're back we're live with moofi hanaman learning about stuff Maybe you didn't know all the stuff about moofi hanaman. So moofi I want to just you know look at the universe of organizations that are side by side with you and dealing with the tourist sector The lodging and hotel sector and I made a list See one is the Hawaii tourism authority hta which took a hit on its budget. So what's what's the relationship? What are they doing vis-a-vis? What are you doing? Hawaii tourism authority is our is our number one marketing agency in the state. It's government funded We support hta to the extent that we want those tax dollars that we collect called the transit accommodation tax To go for three things one the marketing mission of hta Obviously assistance to the counties For what they do When a tourist calls 911 or a local resident you want to make sure police firefighters lifeguards What have you and public safety has always been very important as a calling card for people to come to hawaii because we're a safe place And then the third thing is assistance to the convention center. So the convention center thing has Is is really good getting to a good place. We got strong new leadership there And and they're moving in the right direction But we still need to give assistance to the counties and we're always very concerned about monies for marketing At the end of the day, you know our competition is is out there Oh, yeah, and and and they're breathing down our neck so we can't Regress from those efforts and the like So those things are very important because the biggest trend j that has happened through the years Unfortunately in our opinion is most of the hotel room tax money now goes through the general fund 60 percent of the $565 million plus that we collect in hotel room tax Goes to the general fund and when it goes to the general fund it can be never see it again Everything is very on purpose. So our thing to the legislature and to the governor has been be careful Because you're you're straying from that mission and besides You're also keeping other taxes on us Whether it's trying to increase the transit accommodation tax or this past session and something that we are opposed to very stridently Is the imposition of the resort fee to put the tax on the resort fee? It's one thing on mandatory resort fees at the hotel But how the bill is written at the end of the day that we're very surprised of it's any amenity any benefit That you or I or a visitor coming to hawaii and staying at hotel if you see it on your bill So you could be taxed for uh internet service Perhaps uh, we're using the sauna the exercise room your parking your valley will be an extra 10.25 Yeah, so we're asking the governor to say look now is not the time We've just seen statistics that show from the council of revenues that they're getting 125 million dollars Surplus and if they're looking at this resort fee As 11 million dollars as some have suggested Take it from there and don't put another tax on top of us because of the importance of marketing everything else We want to do for tourism. So that's where we are with hawaii tourism. I don't want to have a reputation nickel diming people exactly and It's very important that we you know that we have a reputation of being fair minded about exactly the way we charge Well, since this story has emerged i've seen it now And then the star avatars are broken the other morning on the major newspapers in our competitive markets throughout the united states They're always said oh hawaii hotels may be uh too much for people to afford They're going to put another tax upon you. So these are the kind of things that are very price sensitive And we've got to be worried about so we're putting a lot of pressure On on the governor to the competition is always there the competition is always there So in terms of hawaii tourism authority, we support their marketing reverse We think this can be some improvement in some areas for example I think they don't they're not doing enough in sports tourism That's an area to me that hasn't even reached it. It's potential In terms of what we can do to ensure that people will look to stage major events here in hawaii So they need to up their game in that area as well as some of that. Absolutely agree and furthermore That's another way to connect People who come here as visitors and the people who are here You know in the community because they would connect and they would meet each other and everybody would be happy for the connection Exactly and that's one of the things that we take great pride in is The accomplishments of our of our local people whether it's sports entertainment and the arts We need to promote that out there make it a strong tourism drive. Yeah integration. Exactly. Okay. Another one is the Let's see the Waikiki Improvement Association. I guess that sounds like infrastructure What's what's how does that relate to what you why can you improve an association? Basically and that's rick agate who used to be my deputy when I was a director of department business economic development tour He's done a wonderful job I call him sometimes the Unofficial mayor of Waikiki because that's his job those two square miles He works with the property owners many of the business people That really want to make sure that we never let our guard down to ensuring that Waikiki is always a safe secure And a positive place to be whether it's for the locals or for tourists So we work very closely with Waikiki Improvement Association We sponsored a public safety conference when we started to get an increase in Crimes against tourists in that area together. We came We came together We held a major conference and we followed that up with a series of initiatives that we hope to most of security in that area where we notice now there's proliferation of gangs that are coming into Waikiki or youth groups Uh, they're doing things. Perhaps they shouldn't be doing after the the midnight hours It's got to be a vulnerability to the whole sector, you know, it's not only the gangs, but it's the crimes It's the drugs. It's the homeless And I think my recollection is there's a Waikiki community health center Yes, it's out there in kuhiro somewhere and that is a way for the industry maybe to to help people And keep them off the streets essentially exactly How much of a threat are all these things and how how can you minimize that? Well, it's very much for a threat We make it a big priority of ours to work with Waikiki Improvement Association The health center all those organizations that are there to make sure that, you know, the Entities or the people that are involved in Waikiki be it the tourists Be it the workers it'll be at the residents that their needs their priorities their concerns will be addressed And so I think we've done some major things along the way, but it's still not enough for example We've contributed over a two million dollars over the past four years in the fight against homelessness And one could argue that we haven't made much progress albeit that Gotta start somewhere and money helps money helps money helps And so one of the bills that we asked from the legislature is to match our Contributions that we've given to these nonprofit organizations like Institute of Human Services and others If they can match it dollar for dollar with the marketing funds that we've set aside for white tourism authority So that bill passed the legislature sitting on the governor's desk. We hope he signs it So if we give a $25,000 grant a $40,000 grant not just in Waikiki throughout the state The state's million dollars will match that and that nonprofit organization will be able to have a lot more money To go forward with with their mission. So again the connection the connection So Waikiki Improvement Association is very important. We work with them constantly Rick and I talk weekly we meet constantly to Work to see how we can do because the other important organization does the Waikiki business improvement district Which is funded by the property owners too So, you know, it's a matter of always coordinating things and then of course having a nice rapport and relationship With the Honolulu police department's point the other thing that we have done a lot more Is making sure that the military feels connected We never want the military to ever be sure and eat it can say don't go to Waikiki anymore because it's not safe So I have encouraged and we have now a regular rapport and dialogue The key members of the military so that we're always on point with the concerns that they'll raise and at the same time See how we can mesh our safety and security efforts. Yeah, you got to control it I mean the thing for example Was it last week or two weeks ago in kakaako with the Japanese tourists that got beaten up? That was awful. It was terrible and it's you know, it's hard to anticipate when somebody's going to go nuts that way Um, I think the guy was on drugs doesn't I? But but you have to take steps you have to prevent it You have to see you see into the future and uh figure out ways to head it off, right? Well, that's why you know We did this public safety workshop this past February because it was really an offshoot What I did several years ago when I was in the Honolulu city council And we saw an increase in crimes against Japanese visitors. The Japanese council general very Uncharacteristically was very blunt in coming up public and say if Hawaii doesn't do more to protect our visitors We may go elsewhere and then we noticed at the same time Florida was seeing a decrease in visitors there as a result of crimes against the european tourists So we didn't want to repeat that we got together. We brought everyone I was a member of the council at that time We worked with another important component of our industry back then and now the oi visitor industry security association Hhv, so I know it. Well, which is made up of security folks in all the hotels And working with government hpd and this time we worked with the prosecutors off We started kind of replicating what we did back then It went a long way to addressing the problem because as a result of that the white key business improvement district was formed That was one of the recommendations that came out of that government So we have a series of recommendations that came out of the February conference that we're working on very diligently right now To follow up and follow through on I I said before the break that we should cover We should cover Oz stender's comment. He came had a show with us and for the proposition is too many tourists We have to stop that This is you know the hard question and she went out in the crowd and asked what do you think a lot of people would say Too many tourists. I know you're working against that But you know, is there a point? Is there something we should be thinking about or doing to manage The growing numbers of tourism. Well, this is where and and let me say this I I I believe That we cannot just open up our the floodgates and say let as many tourists come to whey As a resident I'd be very concerned about and I don't want to see that So we're really reaching that point now As we hit the 10 million mark, how many more tourists can we absorb in our island lifestyle environment? And this is where the hawaii tourism authority Really has to take a leadership role because they have the state funds The state funds go to them to be able to do marketing But they should also be concerned about that other aspect. So We're ready to participate in those discussions when I was a member of the city council I remember there was a there was a rhubarb between the council and mayor harris at that time Who wanted to charge an admission fee at hanama bay because the thing similar back then too many tourists are going hanama bay That was fine. But the problem is the special fee that he wanted to assess He wanted to throw it in the general fund and that's what I rose up. It said no, mr Mayor if we're going to charge a fee for hanama bay should go for tourism Well, no, it should go into a special fund to go back to the bay Right so that we preserve we enhance we educate absolutely agree. We shut it down Additional day of the week. We want to call it the hanama bay nature preserve All those things came into play. We need to have those discussions right now Let's take that playbook that I worked with on the council and make sure now hta And our state legislators and whoever is governor In this case governor ege will move forward on those discussions here Because if we don't we are going to hit a point where people are going to say enough is enough and we don't care because I can't get to the beaches anymore. I don't have enough water in any of my alienation And that's alienation and we don't want to see that so those discussions have to take place So to our stender who I know very well in respect I think he's right in that regard, but let's have a community A consensus and in arriving at a decision here I think the native hawaii community whether it's through oha or other groups They should be at the table and we need to make some tough choices almost like a con con about tourism I love it. What a great idea Well, we can have a con con right here movie because we should we should continue this conversation I can just without itemizing I can think of six or ten more things that we could have discussed today that we should discuss in the future About tourism about waikiki and about these islands and how it deals with tourism. It's the engine of our economy We have to pay attention. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. Yeah