Small kine scrap, Musical GM Chairs, and the dream of Boise flights realized

July 20, 2026

Aloha !

Usually we save our mea culpa’s for the comments to the editor section, but this one could lead to small kine scrap, so we had to confront this one up front. 

In the last issue, we reported incorrectly that Travis Watanabe, the new brand leader at HVCB went to ‘Iolani, when in fact he is a Kamehameha (Kapalama Campus) grad. We know how sensitive this topic can be here in Hawai’i, and we hope Travis can forgive us 😁 . No shade on ‘Iolani, but we know school pride runs deep!

Before we dive in, a big mahalo to this month's sponsor, Lighthouse. Trusted by more than 80,000 hotels worldwide, Lighthouse helps hospitality teams make smarter commercial decisions. Their latest tool, Connect AI, helps hotels understand how they're appearing in AI search, an area that's becoming increasingly important.

This issue has a little bit of everything: HLTA’s post-Mufi future, a fast-spinning hospitality leadership carousel, new airlift, a Kalaupapa conundrum, a vacation rental franchise experiment, AI-related job losses, and more!

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Mahalo for reading, and as always, thank you for being part of the Hui.

Let’s dive in.

Mahalo,

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

HLTA Is Hiring. The Bigger Question Is Why?

Following Mufi Hannemann's retirement, The Hawai’i Lodging & Tourism Association (HLTA) has officially launched its search for a new leader, hiring Inkinen Executive Search to run the process.

In the meantime, Dean Nakasone has stepped in as Interim Executive Director, with Ashley Yonamine serving as Interim Administrative Director.

Dean is an old friend, but I don't think I'm going out on much of a limb by saying HLTA could not have found a more capable or respected person to help steady the organization during this transition… or perhaps longer?

With more than four decades in Hawaiʻi hospitality, Dean has held leadership roles at Halekulani, Outrigger, Aqua-Aston and HLTA itself, while also helping shape the next generation of industry leaders as a lecturer at UH's School of Travel Industry Management.

He knows the industry, understands the personalities and politics, and has the relationships to tackle some of the strategic questions HLTA has been wrestling with for years: strengthening its advocacy role, rebuilding member engagement, and perhaps most interestingly, determining how HLTA and the Hawaiʻi Hotel Alliance (HHA) can best coexist, or potentially work more closely together in representing Hawaiʻi's hotel industry. Remember, HHA was formed in part to fill a void in industry advocacy after many felt HLTA had stepped back from that role and its relationship with the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), the national hotel advocacy group.

The immediate task may be finding a new CEO. The bigger task is deciding what HLTA wants to be in the post-Mufi era.

Note: If all these industry associationsa are confusing you you can learn more here.

Musical Chairs: Hawaiʻi's Executive Shuffle Continues

Over the past few weeks, Hawaiʻi's hospitality leadership carousel has been spinning at full speed, and we have a few new ones to report:

  • Josh Hargrove is returning to Oʻahu as General Manager of the Moana Surfrider and Sheraton Princess Kaiulani after leading The Westin Maui Resort & Spa. He succeeds Thomas Foti, who, as we mentioned in our previous issue, recently became Managing Director of Hilton Hawaiian Village.

  • Jennifer Batara was named General Manager of Ala Moana Hotel back in May, though we’re a little late catching this one. If it were not for Jennifer’s own humble LinkedIn post, many in the industry might have missed it. Jennifer spent more than a decade with Aqua-Aston Hospitality and is the first female General Manager in the history of Ala Moana Hotel. C’mon, Accor, this appointment deserved a little more fanfare.

  • Tracy Stoltz was appointed Managing Director of Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort, bringing decades of luxury resort experience back to the Islands.

  • Robert Ishihara was named General Manager of Ka Haku, Hilton Grand Vacations' new luxury tower in Waikīkī, which is expected to open later this year.

  • Brian Harris joined Halekulani as Director of International Commercial Strategy. Reporting to Halekulani General Manager Davide Barnes, Harris will focus on sales and broader commercial strategy across Halekulani and Halepuna Waikīkī. (Brian, you need to get on LinkedIn😉.)

  • Kerry Brown is moving from Lights On to take on the Director of Revenue Management role at Prince Waikīkī.

  • Sean Ganhinhin is departing Prince Waikīkī and, from what we're hearing, returning to Maui. And there just happens to be a great new open role there on Maui (see above).

Cue the LinkedIn posts about "exciting new chapters.” 😄

Editor's Note: With so many executive appointments in this issue, we couldn't give each one the attention it deserves. Be sure to follow Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui on LinkedIn, where we'll be spotlighting many of these leadership moves individually over the coming weeks.

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More Flights... Just Don't Forget to Pack Lunch

In case you’ve been waiting anxiously for that Boise, Idaho direct flight, your dreams (and those of at least two other people) have come true!

Alaska/Hawaiian is launching seasonal nonstop flights between Honolulu and Boise and Spokane (perhaps one of our airline readers can explain this one to us 🤷‍♂️). The combined carrier is also adding more Honolulu-Las Vegas service and increasing California flying, with Hawaiʻi capacity expected to grow 3% year over year and up to 6% during peak holiday periods. Delta's winter schedule will also restore or expand service from Boston, Minneapolis, Detroit and Atlanta, adding even more mainland lift heading into the peak travel season.

Not to be left out, Southwest is adding more Honolulu service to Burbank and Ontario, restoring weekend nonstop flights from San Diego to Kona and Līhuʻe, and even introducing a new Las Vegas-to-Honolulu “reverse red-eye.”

At the same time Hawaiian announced they will not resume their Honolulu-Auckland route, citing high fuel costs, soft international demand, unfavorable exchange rates, and changing travel patterns.

The changes show where airlines believe the strongest near-term opportunity lies. Rather than waiting for international markets to fully recover, carriers are adding service from secondary mainland cities and connecting hubs that can feed travelers from across the Midwest, East Coast, Mountain West, and Pacific Northwest.

For Hawaiʻi hotels, the shift means continued growth in domestic demand and a visitor mix that looks increasingly different from the pre-pandemic market.

And a reminder for those traveling to the continent: as of July 1st, Hawaiian will phase out complimentary main-cabin meals on most continental flights in favor of paid, preordered options. The aloha is still complimentary. Lunch is not.

The Friendly Isle… Not So Friendly?

Not every meaningful journey is a vacation. The author, as a “tourist” on Kahoʻolawe.

This one will probably earn me a few emails.

I understand why Kalaupapa is different. It is sacred ground, a place of profound suffering, resilience, and healing. The voices of former Hansen's disease patients, their descendants, and the Molokaʻi community deserve to be heard in deciding its future.

Kalaupapa is also inseparable from the story of Father Damien, who chose to live among and care for those exiled there and was later canonized as a saint. For Catholics and others, visiting Kalaupapa isn't simply tourism; it's a pilgrimage.

What I'm struggling with isn't the concern over who controls Kalaupapa's future; I understand that completely. It's whether a carefully managed educational tour is incompatible with those goals.

We're not talking about tour buses rolling through the settlement or hundreds of visitors a day. The National Park Service plan was for just two guided hikes a week with a maximum of 10 visitors per group. Visitors would make the eight-mile round-trip hike not for recreation, but to learn about an important and heartbreaking chapter of history.

Maybe I'm biased. Kalaupapa has long been on my bucket list, not as another place to check off, but because I believe understanding places like this helps us better understand Hawaiʻi. Years ago, I spent a weekend on Kahoʻolawe helping with reforestation. It wasn't a vacation. It was an opportunity to learn, give back, and gain a deeper appreciation for the island's history. I imagine a thoughtfully managed visit to Kalaupapa could offer something similar.

From everything I've read, it appears the National Park Service underestimated just how important meaningful consultation with Molokaʻi residents, descendants, and Native Hawaiian stakeholders would be. That criticism seems fair. But to me, the issue seems less about the tour itself than who gets to decide what Kalaupapa becomes after the last patients are gone.

I don't pretend to have the answer. I simply hope there's a path that honors the wishes of the community while still allowing future generations to experience this remarkable place with the reverence, humility, and respect it deserves.

Some places shouldn't be visited casually, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be visited at all.

Franchise Model for Vacation Rentals

Casago bought Vacasa last year for less than $100 million. Not bad for a company that had been valued at $4.5 billion just a few years earlier. 

The big question post-acquisition was what would happen to its sprawling network of local Vacasa operations.

Now we have a clearer answer.

Casago has sold nearly all of Vacasa’s former property management businesses to local operators, converting many into Casago franchises. More than 31,000 vacation rentals have already been transferred, with 89% of Vacasa’s former field staff hired by the new operators.

We are seeing that shift in Hawaiʻi as well, although the exact structure is still unclear. An owner letter we reviewed, sent in connection with a Kauaʻi property, said Vacasa’s local management business had been transferred to Hawaii Exclusive Management LLC, doing business as Heavenly Vacations, a Casago franchise partner. We reached out to Vacasa, Casago, and Heavenly Vacations for clarification but did not hear back, so it remains unclear whether one operator is handling the entire state or whether Casago is using separate franchisees by island.

The model is simple enough. Local operators handle the messy, expensive work: owner relationships, guest service, housekeeping coordination, maintenance, staffing, and everything else that happens on the ground. In return for a franchise fee, Casago provides the brand, technology, marketing, booking infrastructure, and operational support.

The real question is whether economics work. A hotel management company may earn 3% to 5% of revenue, but the hotel owner pays the operating expenses. Vacation rental managers typically keep around 30%, but that is not profit. It has to fund the entire local operation.

If a slice of that commission now goes to Casago as a franchise fee, the local franchisee will need enough scale and efficiency to make the math work.

Vacasa tried to scale vacation rentals like a tech company. Casago is trying to franchise them like hotels. It’s a different playbook, but it’s still a big bet.

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The OTA Tip Jar

I thought tipping at Starbucks was bad. Tipping your online travel agency? Really?

A while back, I was helping a client evaluate Hopper’s business model. As we walked through the booking process, we noticed something unusual (to say the least). Hopper had preselected a "tip" at checkout. It wasn't mandatory, and you could remove it, but unless you were paying attention, you could easily end up tipping an OTA. I am sure plenty of travelers never realized they had.

That experience came back to mind when the FTC announced a $35 million settlement with Hopper over allegations that it used hidden or preselected fees and misleading disclosures around some of its products. According to the FTC, the concerns went beyond tips and included claims involving Hopper’s VIP Support and Price Freeze products. Hopper settled without admitting wrongdoing and says many of the practices had already been discontinued.

To be honest, I'm not even sure what Hopper is anymore. It started as an OTA, became a travel fintech company, and recently sold the technology behind Capital One Travel while continuing to operate its consumer business with a much smaller team.

Regardless of the business model, there's a lesson here for the rest of the industry.

Charging for real value is one thing. Sneaking fees into the booking process and hoping customers won’t notice is another. That’s not clever pricing. It’s a checkout page designed to pick your pocket.

The FTC can hand out fines. Customers hand out something much more valuable: trust. Once that’s gone, it’s a lot harder to earn back than a few extra dollars in gotcha fees ancillary revenue.

Remember That $2.5 Billion Valuation?

Back in January, Mews (a hotel property management system) raised $300 million at a $2.5 billion valuation to, among other things, accelerate its AI roadmap. Fast forward six months, and the hotel tech company has announced layoffs affecting about 15% of its workforce (about 170 employees), saying AI has made many of those roles obsolete.

I don't doubt AI is making teams more productive. It absolutely is. But let's not pretend every layoff in 2026 is purely an AI story. The New York Times recently questioned whether we're entering an era of "AI-washing," where AI becomes a convenient explanation for cuts that are also driven by profitability and investor expectations. Mews may be different, but it's a reminder that these announcements often have more than one motivation.

I have a feeling we’ll be hearing about plenty more “AI layoffs.” Sometimes AI will be the reason. Other times, it may just be easier to sell than “right-sizing.”

Industry Events

  • Enough AI Talk. Let's Build Something. - August 20, 2026 (Honolulu)

    • A Hands-On Workshop for Hawai’i Hotel Commercial Teams

  • TIM NIGHT 2026 - August 28, 2026 (Honolulu)

    • Presented by the University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management Alumni Association

  • Maui WaiWise Stewardship Summit - Nov 9-10, 2026 (Maui)

    • Free educational forum hosted by Maui County DWS focused on hotel water conservation, sustainability, and operational efficiency

*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 us know. We will be glad to include them in the newsletter, space permitting; send the job link to [email protected].

The inbox was absolutely smoking this week. Mahalo nui to the Hui for keeping our notifications buzzing and ensuring our back-of-house bulletin board stays lively.

As always, this space is our collective industry therapy session, a platform for all voices across the islands, whether they are generating digital high-fives or stirring up healthy debate.

Let's see what's on your minds this week.

The $431 Million Shovel Duty
Our coverage of the massive cash injection aimed at finally resurrecting the legendary property on Kauaʻi brought out a mix of deep nostalgia, heavy skepticism, and absolute exhaustion over three decades of false starts.

  • "$431 million in debt to be across the water from a major highway on the wrong part of an island. Hah. Hah hah. Hah hah hah hah hah."

  • "I’ve been on that site multiple times, though, and I will say it’s weirdly interesting and nostalgic… [But] as any 20-year-old would say (30 by the time this doesn’t get built), 'Who’s Elvis?'"

  • “Zero evidence of progress. The only time anything changes is when the community gets upset and presses the County to enforce something. Time for eminent domain and make it a park; Kauai doesn't need another hotel.”

  • "Watching this property for decades. Hopefully they can get something built in a timely manner."

  • “I think that this one will be a huge win with Highgate and Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants behind it. Really excited to check it out when it opens!”

Brand Math & Owner Realities
Our breakdown of the shifting economics between hotel owners and major brands hit a very sensitive nerve regarding who actually takes home the profit at the end of the day.

  • "It's amazing to me when so many businesses are plugged into the hotel, what’s left for owners?"

  • "Everyone deserves to get paid… The key is making sure businesses aren’t paying more than they should."

About our Newly Launched Market Report

  • "HAHAHA love this: 'Quick Summary (So You Sound Smart in Meetings)'"

  • "Great information, thanks for sharing."

  • "These numbers reinforce that statewide averages only tell part of the story. Hawaiʻi’s long-term opportunity lies in a coordinated strategy that strengthens global connectivity, supports our workforce and communities, invests in infrastructure, and prioritizes high-value, sustainable tourism. The goal isn’t simply more visitors—it’s a stronger, more resilient visitor economy for every island."

Got a hot take of your own? Think my tech summaries are totally off base, or want to drop a piece of industry lore anonymously? Fire back at [email protected] or [email protected], and you might just find your words in our next session of inbox therapy.

About Us

Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui was started by hotel industry veteran Dan Wacksman, CEO of Sassato, a Hawaiʻi-based consultancy that combines deep local expertise with a global perspective.

Our team brings decades of experience across operations, marketing, revenue, tech, and finance, all aimed at helping hotels and travel companies make smarter decisions and move faster. Whether you need additional expertise, extra horsepower, or just someone who thinks like you and moves things forward, we’ve got you. From local independents to global brands, we show up with a no-nonsense, results-focused mindset. To be blunt: we get sh*t done.

Recent projects include brand transitions, system selection (PMS, CRS, CMS — all the acronym soup), implementations, project management, feasibility studies, training, audits, and everything in between.

A lot of organizations deal with stretched teams, siloed processes, and messy tech stacks that quietly stall important work. We fix that. Happy to chat if this hits close to home.