Aloha, 

On May 28, I began my position as the new president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority. This is both a great honor and responsibility. 

Since embarking on this journey, I have been reaching out to our partners in the visitor industry, key stakeholders, community leaders and government officials as we look to begin a new chapter at the HTA. All of you, our stakeholders, have contributed to the three straight years of record-setting results for Hawaii's visitor industry. And I believe that collaboration is and will be the key to our industry's success in the long-term.

I look forward to working closely with the HTA board of directors, staff and global contractors. Over the past six years, under the leadership of Mike McCartney, they have all done a tremendous job in guiding one of the state's lead economic drivers and I will look to them as we continue to support Hawaii's residents through the benefits of tourism.  

I would like to take this opportunity to also thank our board of directors who represent different facets of the community that bring a wealth of experience and knowledge that can help us gauge the needs of our visitor industry and the community. In addition to welcoming our newest board members whose terms commenced this year, I would like to extend a sincere mahalo and aloha to all of our board members for their dedicated service to our state and industry.

As we begin planning for 2016, we will continue to collaborate with the industry, government and community to ensure that tourism in Hawaii is sustainable. We must anticipate the future demands of the visitor industry by being forward thinking and constantly adapt our plans to meet the changing needs of the consumer. By empowering our staff, contractors and partners to be innovative and creative, we can further enhance Hawaii as a destination and remain competitive in the global marketplace, while supporting and strengthening our communities and economy.

I look forward to working with all of you as we build upon the growth for Hawaii's visitor industry.

Mahalo,

George D. Szigeti,

HTA President and CEO 

The HTA is pleased to welcome Randy Baldemor as its chief operating officer (COO). Prior to joining the HTA, he was serving as the deputy director for the State Department of Human Resources.

Baldemor has held numerous leadership positions for the State of Hawaii, including as the director of strategic initiatives at the Governor's office, deputy director for the Department of Taxation and deputy chief information officer at the Office of Information Management & Technology. Besides his public service experience, he has also held positions in the private sector as the president of DiscoveryBox, Inc., the assistant vice president of claims at Island Insurance Companies and as a partner at the law firm of Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel. Read more.