The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) was formed in 1998. In 1997, 7 million visitors came to Hawaii. If the HTA did not exist, millions of visitors would still be coming to Hawaii. The HTA is similar to nongovernmental organizations that are used to funnel taxpayer funds to various interest groups. We do not need more tourists and we don’t need the HTA. Defund it, and use the money for a more worthwhile purpose. ...read more read less