STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3245

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2563

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism, to which was referred H.B. No. 2563, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Hawaii Tourism Authority to develop and publish, through a contract with a third party, a mobile application that includes all online application processes, including the collection of any applicable reservation fees, to acquire a reservation to conduct recreational and commercial activities in the State that are regulated by or under the jurisdiction of a state or county agency;

(2) Require the Hawaii Tourism Authority to issue a request for proposals and contract for the development and publishing of the mobile application;

(3) Establish the Tourism Enterprise Fund; and

(4) Appropriate funds for the development and publication of the mobile application, including the hiring of mobile application managers.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Tourism Authority and two individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the City and County of Honolulu Department of Information Technology and Friends of Hanauma Bay.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation.

Your Committee finds that unifying travel-related interactions with state and local government in a cohesive digital platform for visitors and residents of the State offers many opportunities to make these interactions more seamless for the consumer, to make destination management more efficient and effective through location-aware deployment of safety and educational messages, and to encourage meaningful itineraries that drive visitors to sites and experiences with the capacity to host them appropriately. By consolidating all of the forms and application processes required to conduct recreational and commercial activities in the State, this measure will streamline the application processes and greatly benefit the State's residents, visitors, and commercial operators.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that manager positions to manage the mobile application are to be hired by the Hawaii Tourism Authority and not the Authority's Board of Directors; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

Your Committee notes that the development of the Hawaii Tourism Authority's mobile application proposed by this measure should be done by local businesses. Your Committee further notes that the functionalities of this mobile application should expand beyond simply reservations for recreational and commercial activities and should serve as a much more comprehensive platform to streamline information to the State's visitors, including upgrading the Department of Agriculture's Plants and Animals Declaration Form to an electronic format, or disseminating important health information similar to the State's Safe Travels Program during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2563, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2563, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism,

________________________________

LYNN DECOITE, Chair