STORY SUMMARY>>>

One day after the Hawaii Tourism Authority accepted the resignation of Rex Johnson as its president and CEO, the board of directors was unanimous in appointing the number two man at the agency as its interim leader.

Lloyd Unebasami, 59, was tapped to lead the HTA until a permanent replacement for Johnson can be found. Johnson offered his resignation Wednesday evening after weeks of controversy resulting from the discovery of racist, sexist and pornographic e-mails in his government computer.

Unebasami, a certified public accountant, has been the Tourism Authority’s chief administrative officer for the past eight years and has a wealth of state government experience. He has served as the state's procurement administrator, deputy comptroller and deputy director of taxation.

Unebasami said he would continue to apply some of the concepts and strategies he learned under Johnson as he guides the HTA through a slowdown in Hawaii’s tourism based economy and a possible worldwide recession.

“He established the entire relationship with the legislature,” Unebasami said of Johnson’s efforts at HTA. “I was the second in command with Mr. Johnson and I think I owe it to the state to be here.”

State Tourism Liaison Marsha Weinert, an Ex-Officio of HTA’s board of directors, expressed confidence the agency would continue to carry out its mission of promoting Hawaii as a world class tourist destination while the search for Johnson’s permanent replacement begins in a few weeks.

“I think that we have a very strong staff here at HTA and I'm please that Lloyd (Unebasami) accepted the interim position,” Weinert told reporters. “I have every confidence in this organization,” she added.

Before picking Unebasami as its interim leader the board voted to increase funding for the promotion of Hawaii tourism by another $2 million.

The move brings total spending for marketing by the HTA to $55.5 million for the current fiscal year.

Weinert said the added dollars could help stabilize a sharp decline in the number of visitors coming to the Hawaiian Islands. The HTA recently launched a new marketing campaign that promotes Hawaii as a good value during tough economic times.

“And so that message is out there in the marketplace today,” said Weinert. “With some additional funding we can expand that message.”

For the first eight months of the year visitors arrivals to Hawaii (minus Canada) have dropped 8.2% compared to a year ago. However in recent months arrivals have declined by double digits. According to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism, visitor arrivals are down 17.5% in the first week of October.

HTA’s board of directors is expected to begin the process of naming a search committee to find Johnson’s replacement during its next meeting, tentatively scheduled for October 16.

Andrew may be reached at apereira@khon2.com or ph. 591-4263.