Hawaii Hotel Hui Insider - Issue #5

May 20, 2025

Aloha !

Welcome to this month’s Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui Insider.

Oops. That one’s on me.

Some of you got a duplicate issue last month that was meant for a smaller segment. We’re still figuring out the email platform and, yes, literally forgot to check a box. Thanks for your patience—we’ll do our best to keep the inbox spam-free(ish).

After I close each issue, I always wonder if I’ll have enough content for the next one, and then every month, the industry reminds me: there’s never a dull moment in Hawaiʻi hospitality.

This issue is packed with the good, the bad, and the “wait… what?”

We’ve got mergers and acquisitions, eye-popping renovation budgets, and a few public meltdowns. Add in new tax policy, fewer airline seats, a foreclosure-first on an illegal rental, and a surprise $1M gift from Airbnb, and you’ve got the kind of newsletter that practically writes itself (oh, how I wish😃).

Let’s dive in!

Mahalo,

Dan Wacksman
Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui Insider Editor-in-Chief 😄

In this issue of “As the HTA Turns”

You can’t make this stuff up. Here are some of the latest developments:

Late Payments - Earlier in April, it was reported that Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority was under scrutiny from the state Attorney General’s Office over $780,000 in potential interest owed for late payments to major contractors. It was also facing separate investigations into possible procurement and ethics violations. 

Racist Remarks - Chief Administrative Officer and VP of Finance Isaac Choy has been placed on leave following reports of racist remarks and a toxic work environment, which have led to an investigation by the State Attorney General. We don’t have the space to cover all the sordid details here, but if you want to learn more, Allison Schaefers did a very detailed piece on it—it’s a tough and disappointing read. I feel for the acting CEO, Caroline Anderson, who is stuck with a mess of others' creations, but she is tough and smart, and can hopefully wade through it and right the ship. 

Chief Administrative Officer and VP of Finance Isaac Choy

More Resignations - Kalani Ka‘ana‘ana, HTA chief stewardship officer and interim public affairs officer, resigned earlier this month. Having worked with Kalani, it is definitely disappointing to see him leave, and I wish him the best of luck in his next chapter. This rounds out five recent senior resignations, which also included the CEO,  Brand Manager, Senior Brand Manager, and Public Affairs Officer. 

HTA Likely to Lose “Independence” - Senate Bill 1571, which restructures the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority by placing it under the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) and converting its board into an advisory role, has passed both chambers of the Legislature and was sent to Governor Green on May 2, 2025. The Governor has until July 9 to sign, veto, or allow the bill to become law without his signature. This would effectively end HTA’s status as an independent agency.

On a positive note, HTA announced in an April email that they brought on 8 new staff, including destination managers, a contracts administrative manager, a planner, and a Brand Manager-Sports Tourism. I can only imagine what the new hires are thinking about all this. 

In a rare instance for me, I have to say, I am speechless. I am curious to hear what our readers think about HTA and its future.

Ben Rafter At It Again

Ben Rafter’s back at it. After leading Aqua Hotels through its growth, sale to ILG, and merger with Aston, he went on to helm OLS Hotels & Resorts, retooled and rebranded it into Springboard Hospitality, scaling it into a 51-property portfolio, including 12 hotels across the Islands.

It was recently announced that Springboard has merged with Atlanta-based Hotel Equities, effective May 1st. Hotel Equities manages 200+ branded properties. 

Rafter takes the reins as CEO of the new, combined company. If you know Ben, you know the drill: sharp on tech, savvy on strategy, and a rare leader who can blend innovation with place-based sensibility.

Hotel Equities brings branded management expertise, while Springboard adds independent, lifestyle credibility. The new model seems focused on giving owners options: go branded, go boutique, or go hybrid—whatever best fits the asset.

With over 250 properties under management, this puts Ben and his team among the top five independent hotel management companies

I’d wish Ben luck—but based on his track record, I doubt he’ll need it. 😉

Rainbow Tower and Waikoloa Reno’s

Park Hotels - a public lodging real estate investment trust (REIT)- which owns Hilton Hawaiian Village, just wrapped phase one of an $83 million renovation at the Rainbow Tower, adding 12 rooms and refreshing nearly half the tower for $41 million. Phase two kicks off in Q3, with another 14 rooms coming online and a projected Q1 2026 finish, bringing the total to 822 rooms.

Over on Hawaiʻi Island, Park is also dropping $68 million into the Palace Tower at Hilton Waikoloa Village. Phase two starts this fall and is also aiming for early 2026 completion.

And don’t forget—Hilton Hawaiian Village is still eyeing that new tower along Ala Moana Boulevard. Plans are in motion, but final approvals are still pending.

Brand, Owner, Manager

The story above is a good reminder that most hotel brands are “asset light” and do not own the actual hotels that they brand. Most of us in the hotel industry understand this dynamic, but since not everyone does, here is a simple explanation: 

🏨 Who’s Really Running Your Hotel?

Every hotel needs three roles filled: 🏠 Owner, 🏷️ Brand, and 🛠️ Manager.

  • The owner buys the building and pays the bills.

  • The brand is the name on the sign (Marriott, Hilton, etc.) and sets standards.

  • The management company hires the staff and runs the day-to-day.

Sometimes one company does all three. More often, it's a mashup:

Real Hawai‘i Examples:

  • All-in-One (3/3):
     Outrigger Waikiki
    → Owned, Branded, and Managed by Outrigger

  • Two Out of Three (2/3):
     Hilton Hawaiian Village
    → Owned by Park Hotels and Resorts (REIT), Branded & Managed by Hilton

  • Split Three Ways (1/3 each):
    Hyatt Place Waikiki 
    → Owned by Host Hotels & Resorts, Branded by Hyatt, Managed by PM Hotel Group

At the end of the day, the owner calls the shots—they choose the brand and the manager. Though guests usually only see the flag on the building.

📈 We Broke Our Own Record!

Back in Issue #3, we flagged the growing momentum behind SB1396, the bill proposing a hike to Hawaiʻi’s transient accommodations tax (TAT) to fund climate initiatives.

Well, it’s official: Starting January 1, 2026, visitors will be paying even more on top of what’s already considered the highest tourist tax burden in the world. The state TAT is rising from 10.25% to 11% for hotels, vacation rentals, and timeshares. Add the county surcharges (up to 3%) and general excise tax (4.712%), and that $300/night room can easily push past $350 all-in. 

And for the first time ever, cruise ship passengers will contribute, paying 11% on the prorated portion of their fare tied to time spent in Hawaiʻi.

Lawmakers say the increase is earmarked for climate resilience, infrastructure protection, and sustainable tourism.

Of course, those of us who’ve been around a while remember when the original TAT was supposed to be permanently dedicated to tourism funding… until it wasn’t. We’ll be watching closely to see if it will be different this time (if you believe it will be, I still have that bridge in Brooklyn to sell you).

Another bill we discussed previously, HB504, which would add a $20 fee for loyalty bookings, did not pass and was not included in SB1396. 

🍽️ Airbnb Donates $1M to Hawaiʻi Foodbank—Altruism or Optics?

Airbnb just made a $1 million donation to the Hawaiʻi Foodbank—one of the nonprofit’s largest gifts ever—helping provide an estimated two million meals to families across the state.

While the support is timely amid rising need and safety net cuts, it’s worth noting that Airbnb has faced significant backlash in Hawaiʻi over its impact on housing and overtourism. So is this a generous gesture, or part of a larger effort to buy goodwill in a state where short-term rentals remain deeply controversial?

Regardless of the motivation, it certainly is sorely needed and for a fantastic organization.

🏚️ Illegal Rentals: Big Fines, Tiny Collections

In related news… Despite tough talk and hiring a collection agency, the city collected just $1.1 million—about 4%—of the nearly $29 million in fines issued to illegal vacation rentals last year.

Mayor Blangiardi called the situation “unacceptable,” noting that some offshore operators are running enough units to rival “28 full-sized hotels.” Now, the city is finally taking action against one of the biggest offenders, moving to foreclose on an Alewa Heights rental with nearly $1 million in unpaid fines. If successful, it would mark the city’s first-ever foreclosure for an illegal rental—and, hopefully, a sign that the rules might finally come with consequences.

✈️ Summer Seats Slippin Away

Air seat capacity to Hawaiʻi is sagging just as the peak season approaches. Projections show June, July, and August seats down 7–8% year-over-year.

The Alaska–Hawaiian shuffle isn’t helping: Alaska is pulling 800+ flights out of HNL this spring, while Hawaiian is backfilling about 445, leaning on larger A330s to cushion the blow. Still, net seat counts will be down ~6.6% by July, and 8% by August.

With international arrivals still lagging, Hawaiʻi remains heavily reliant on mainland lift—and right now, that’s looking lighter.

Time to Rethink the Agenda? Travel Weekly Leadership Forum

I attended this year’s Travel Weekly Hawaiʻi Leadership Forum—one of the few consistent spaces where Hawaiʻi tourism leaders gather to talk shop. Familiar faces, solid execution… but I have to say, the perspectives felt a bit too familiar.

I get it—the forum (and the magazine behind it) is built for the travel advisor community, and that’s an important part of the ecosystem. But at a time when AI is reshaping guest journeys, influencers are driving demand in real time, and Gen Z is rewriting the playbook—it might be time to broaden the conversation. There’s real value in revisiting the fundamentals, but maybe not every year, with the same format and speakers.

Aaron J. Salā, PhD, the new HVCB CEO, brought a fresh and provocative perspective. He called out tourism’s extractive legacy and made a powerful case for a new, regenerative tourism grounded in cultural integrity and equity. It was the boldest part of the day—and a welcome reminder that Hawaiʻi’s future won’t be built by “polishing old models”.

As an industry, we’re great at polishing old models—but with how fast things are moving, our tech, our talent, and even our talking points are starting to feel stuck in 2019.

And to be clear, this isn’t a knock on Travel Weekly—I’ve seen the same dynamic across plenty of forums, panels, and strategy decks. 

Anyone else picking up on this pattern, or am I just cranky from too many panel discussions?

Hotel Performance

A Month of M&A Activity!

💸 Sabre Dumps Hotels to Focus on Air (and Debt)

After years of speculation, Sabre is officially out of the hotel game, selling off its hospitality solutions unit (a.k.a. SynXis) to TPG’s private equity arm for $1.1 billion in cash. The move frees up Sabre to refocus on its airline tech roots and chip away at its $4.5 billion debt load.

Many independent hotels, along with big brands like Hyatt, Wyndham, and Preferred, rely on Sabre Hospitality products, most notably its CRS and booking engine. Interestingly, the buyer is a private equity firm, not another travel tech player. I always thought this would’ve been a perfect “tuck-in” for Oracle, which has long struggled on the CRS and booking engine front. The transaction is worth about $960 million, most of which is going to debt reduction.

It’ll be interesting to see what TPG does with the business—my guess is a period of refocusing, maybe a tuck-in acquisition, followed by another flip (sale). I’m slated to attend a Sabre Hospitality Consultants workshop in June, which (as of now) is still on. I’ll be curious to hear what’s said about product, support, and branding going forward.

My personal opinion? Sabre has some very strong products—and great people—but years of underinvestment have held it back. If that changes under new ownership, this could be a net positive for hotels.

🏨 Marriott Buys Another Brand

Marriott International is acquiring lifestyle hotel brand citizenM for $355 million, adding 36 design-forward, tech-savvy hotels to its global portfolio. The deal marks a major move into the upscale select-service space and is expected to boost Marriott’s 2025 net room growth to nearly 5%.

💡Lighthouse Acquires The Hotels Network

Lighthouse (formerly OTA Insight), which offers a suite of commercial tools for pricing, demand forecasting, business intelligence, and rate parity, has acquired The Hotels Network (THN) to round out its platform with personalization and direct booking optimization capabilities.

Juanjo Rodriguez, THN Founder

The idea? Combine THN’s conversion tools with Lighthouse’s rate shopping, parity, and demand intelligence so hotels can finally align pricing and marketing in a single platform. Hotels in Hawai‘i widely utilize both companies’ tools. Putting it all together won’t be easy—these functions are still too often managed in silos. And beyond this, the bigger challenge might be blending two distinct product philosophies without losing the secret sauce that made each one successful in the first place.

Congratulations to Juanjo Rodriguez, THN Founder, whom I had the opportunity to have coffee with in Barcelona a few years ago, and was left impressed by his vision and passion. Congrats also, too to my friends who were a huge part of the success of THN, Michael Goldrich, Mercedes Blanco, and Carrie Ell.

Junk Fees Rule Goes Live—Ready or Not

As flagged in a previous issue, the FTC’s junk fees rule officially kicks in Monday, May 12th, and yes, that includes those “resort fees” we’ve all danced around for years. The final rule requires full price transparency upfront, which could mean paying commissions on the full rate, not just the base room price.

The FTC dropped a last-minute FAQ doc to help clarify edge cases, but if you’re still fuzzy on what applies and what doesn’t, we’re happy to share the materials we presented at AHLA’s recent session. Bottom line: if your rate strategy still relies on burying fees, it’s time to rethink the playbook.

AI Gets a Memory—And That Changes Everything

OpenAI recently rolled out custom GPTs with persistent memory, which means your AI assistant now remembers past interactions, preferences, and even tone. Think of it like going from a chatbot to a personalized assistant.

For hotels, this opens up some intriguing possibilities:

  • Building an internal tool that retains knowledge about your SOPs, property details, or even brand voice? It just got a lot easier.

  • Need help prepping for an owner’s meeting or writing a performance review that sounds like you? Memory-enabled AI can now do that too.

Yes, privacy matters. Yes, hallucinations still happen. But we’re entering a world where AI doesn’t just assist—it starts to anticipate.

If you’re not playing around with GenAI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, you’re not just behind… You may just be living in a world of pagers, fax machines, and dial-up, wondering why no one’s writing on your MySpace wall.

Start small, break stuff, and see what sticks.

👉 Need a place to start? Perplexity.ai, ChatGPT, and Gemini are solid tools I’ve been using lately. Let me know what you discover.

👋 Want help training your team, or just figuring out where to start? Reach out—we’ve been developing custom workshops for hotels and travel companies.

Anonymous Comments to the Editor

Praise (my favorite section)

  • “I enjoyed the snippet of the variety of topics that interest or affect us. Keep the great work going.

  • “Jan Brady--gotta love it!”

  • “I miss your sense of humor, Dan! I love getting these!”

  • “I enjoyed reading your Insider updates and commentary. I have forwarded your email to share with our team and partners in the industry.”

  • “I love your newsletters! Mufi …of course! Why not interview a local islander hotel mgr/exec each newsletter!”

  • “I love this newsletter! Thinking about the HTA, I hope it continues to thrive. Having a dedicated tourism authority stimulates growth. It's a vital economic engine. “

Corrections and Advice

  • “Your newsletter states that the HTA board members are appointed by the Governor … it’s a little more complicated than that. Here’s the language from the statute… “

    • I agreed with the reader that, rather than printing the full statute, this would suffice: Board members are appointed by the governor, with six chosen from legislative nominations. And if the Governor signs Bill 1571, this is all moot.

Strong Opinions

  • “Climate change impacts everyone, and putting a large portion of the burden of dealing with it on our visitors is just one more reason they will stay away. WTF?”

  • “We’re killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Adding fee upon tax upon fee coupled with wage increases that drive room rates up, and Hawaii is pricing itself out of the market. I would feel better about my tax burden if there were some confidence in the government, but there isn’t. We build infrastructure but don’t maintain it. We defer repairs until the cost of those repairs is triple the cost of what doing them in a timely manner might have cost. And we allow bureaucrats to manage projects with blank checks. It’s a vicious cycle that will lead to a disastrous end.” 

  • “The HTA is a middleman that merely reduces the money needed to effectively sell our brand. Establish a cabinet-level position (not department) and contract out the actual work to an organization that knows what it’s doing, like the HVCB. My vote is for elimination.” 

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Fire back on these issues or others at [email protected], and your response might be featured anonymously in the next edition. 

50 Hours in the Air and Still Hungry for a Good Recommendation

I had another crazy travel month — from Istanbul to Dallas and back home in between. That’s a lot of air time. It’s amazing how many movies are now available on flights, and equally amazing how few of them I want to watch — or that are any good.

After spending more than 50 hours in the air this month, I only have two recommendations. I really enjoyed the Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown — though that might be because I’m a fan, knew the background and story well, and love the music. So it might not be for everyone. The second was a Netflix download: a Swedish movie (yes, with subtitles) called The Glass Dome. It’s a classic thriller — with a twist.

Hawai‘i Hospitality & Tourism Industry Events Calendars

*If you have industry events to share, please email me at [email protected]

Spotlight on Hawai‘i Hospitality Opportunities

*If you happen to have any job openings, let me know. I will be glad to include them in the newsletter; just send the job link to [email protected].

About Us

Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui was started by hotel industry veteran Dan Wacksman, the CEO of Sassato, a Hawaiʻi-based consultancy that combines deep local expertise with a global perspective to help hotels and travel businesses overcome challenges and thrive. With a team of seasoned industry professionals who call Hawaiʻi home, Sassato offers an intimate understanding of the market, culture, and key players, paired with decades of experience in marketing, revenue management, operations, technology, finance, and overall strategy.