Report Title:

Tourism Research and Statistics

Description:

Specifies that moneys for tourism research and statistics shall be transferred from the tourism special fund to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism in accordance with a master plan and budget developed in coordination with the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2668

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to tourism research and statistics.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 201-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§201-3 Specific research and promotional functions of the department. Without prejudice to its general functions and duties the department of business, economic development, and tourism shall have specific functions in the following areas:

(1) Industrial development. The department shall determine through technical and economic surveys the profit potential of new or expanded industrial undertakings; develop through research projects and other means new and improved industrial products and processes; promote studies and surveys to determine consumer preference as to design and quality and to determine the best methods of packaging, transporting, and marketing the [State's] state's industrial products; disseminate information to assist the present industries of the [State,] state, to attract new industries to the [State,] state, and to encourage capital investment in present and new industries in the [State;] state; assist associations of producers and distributors of industrial products to introduce such products to consumers; and make such grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

(2) Land development. The department shall encourage the most productive use of all land in the [State] state in accordance with a general plan developed by the department; encourage the improvement of land tenure practices on leased private lands; promote an informational program directed to landowners, producers of agricultural and industrial commodities, and the general public regarding the most efficient and most productive use of the lands in the [State;] state; and make such grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

(3) Credit development. The department shall conduct a continuing study of agricultural and industrial credit needs; encourage the development of additional private and public credit sources for agricultural and industrial enterprises; promote an informational program to acquaint financial institutions with agricultural and industrial credit needs and the potential for agricultural and industrial expansion, and inform producers of agricultural and industrial products as to the manner in which to quality for loans; and make such grants or contracts as may be necessary or advisable to accomplish the foregoing;

(4) Promotion. The department shall disseminate information developed for or by the department pertaining to economic development to assist present industry in the [State,] state, attract new industry and investments to the [State,] state, and assist new and emerging industry with good growth potential or prospects in jobs, exports, and new products. The industrial and economic promotional activities of the department may include the use of literature, advertising, demonstrations, displays, market testing, lectures, travel, motion picture and slide films, and such other promotional and publicity devices as may be appropriate; and

(5) Tourism research and statistics. The department shall maintain a program of research and statistics for the purpose of:

(A) Measuring and analyzing tourism trends;

(B) Providing information and research to assist in the development and implementation of state tourism policy;

(C) Encouraging and arranging for the conduct of tourism research and information development through voluntary means or through contractual services with qualified agencies, firms, or persons; and

(D) Providing tourism information to policy makers, the public, and the visitor [industry. This includes:] industry, including:

(i) Collecting and publishing visitor-related data including visitor arrivals, visitor characteristics and expenditures;

(ii) Collecting and publishing hotel-related statistics including the number of units available, occupancy rates, and room rates;

(iii) Collecting and publishing airline-related data including seat capacity and number of flights;

(iv) Collecting information and conducting analyses of the economic, social, and physical impacts of tourism on the [State;] state;

(v) Conducting periodic studies of the impact of ongoing marketing programs of the Hawaii tourism authority on Hawaii's tourism industry, employment in Hawaii, state taxes, and the [State's] state's lesser known and underutilized destinations; and

(vi) [Cooperate] Cooperating with the Hawaii tourism authority and [provide] providing it with the above information in a timely manner[.];

provided that the funding for tourism research and statistics shall be as provided in section 201B-11(c).

The department shall be the central agency to coordinate film permit activities in the State."

SECTION 2. Section 201B-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) Moneys in the tourism special fund shall be used by the authority for the purposes of this chapter; provided that:

(1) Not more than five per cent of this amount shall be used for administrative expenses, including $15,000 for a protocol fund to be expended at the discretion of the executive director; [and]

(2) At least $1,000,000 shall be made available to support efforts to manage, improve, and protect Hawaii's natural environment and areas frequented by visitors[.]; and

(3) Funds in the tourism special fund shall be transferred to the department of business, economic development, and tourism to fund tourism research and statistics under section 201-3(5); provided that the funding under this paragraph shall:

(A) Be in accordance with a master plan and budget developed by the department of business, economic development, and tourism, in coordination with the authority; and

(B) Not be considered expenditures from the tourism special fund."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that the amendments made to section 201B-11(c), Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall not be repealed when section 201B-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is reenacted on June 30, 2007, pursuant to section 50 of Act 22, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005.

INTRODUCED BY:

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