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If anyone knows how to care for locals, the islands and their visitors, it\u2019s John De Fries, who is thriving as president and CEO of Hawai\u2018i Tourism Authority<\/em><\/p>\n When John De Fries applied to be president and CEO of Hawai\u2018i Tourism Authority last year, he remembers listing his two alma maters on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9: Punahou School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.<\/p>\n \u201cHow many executive positions put their elementary school?\u201d he muses. Born and raised in the mecca of Hawai\u2018i tourism \u2014 Waik\u012bk\u012b \u2014 De Fries spent his formative years on the state’s iconic beach.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere Queen Kapi\u2018olani Hotel is, that’s the street I grew up on,\u201d recalls De Fries, who took the helm of HTA last September. \u201cBeing born and raised here, there’s this connection to the place and to the people, and a respect for the multiethnic societal fabric that constitutes our way of life as kama\u2018\u0101ina.\u201d<\/p>\n In directing the state’s No. 1 industry, De Fries has the opportunity to lead and guide others using the same type of hospitality he was raised with.<\/p>\n The 1969 Punahou grad got his start in the state’s most lucrative industry four years later as a tour director for one of the major companies. A 22-year-old De Fries served as an ambassador of aloha, leading visiting groups around the island \u2014 or islands, depending on the package \u2014 and giving them an in-depth look at Hawai\u2018i through his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you’re in that role, you actually live with the visitors you’re traveling with, you become familiar with every segment of their experience,\u201d he says, noting that being a free-spirit and single at the time allowed him this opportunity as a young adult. \u201cA big part of that experience was recreational, and you get to relate to the visitor on an intimate level.\u201d<\/p>\n After a handful of years, De Fries’ efforts elevated him to a department management position, and that work experience became what he now calls \u201cthe college I never went to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAcademically, it was almost like I was allergic to it,\u201d he says, with a hint of a smile. \u201cI had more parking tickets than credits.\u201d<\/p>\n His first taste of the state’s visitor industry left him wanting to learn more, and he set his sights on understanding how hotels were developed. He took his talents to a local company that was building three properties \u2014 two on Maui and one on Kaua\u2018i \u2014 and was able to learn the ropes in real estate and resort development, as well as construction. The latter, De Fries adds, came more naturally to him because he worked for a construction company in the early 1970s building swimming pools.<\/p>\n His comprehensive understanding of the industry is unparalleled, and makes him the perfect person to lead HTA into the post-coronavirus era with a focus on regenerative tourism. To accomplish this, he claims one must have a m\u0101lama mindset.<\/p>\n \u201cWe m\u0101lama the visitor, but in turn educate them on how to m\u0101lama us as a people, place, as an island society,\u201d De Fries says. \u201cAt the same time, we need to run a vibrant economy. This reciprocity is embedded in our Hawaiian culture, in our kama\u2018\u0101ina ways.\u201d<\/p>\n The way De Fries sees it, the fundamentals of the tourism industry haven’t changed. It remains a relationship-based way of life in which trust still is the major currency.<\/p>\n \u201cI clearly understand that in tourism, we are the hosts,\u201d he adds. \u201cAnd the host carries a certain set of responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Added to that influence is the knowledge that he’s the first Native Hawaiian to hold the organization’s top leadership role, though De Fries assures he won’t be the last. It carries for him an increased sense of accountability.<\/p>\n \u201cA very close Hawaiian friend of mine said to me, \u2018Our children need to see you succeed,’\u201d recalls De Fries, whose primary residence is in Kona. \u201cWhen he said that, the magnitude of it really hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n De Fries doesn’t have any children of his own \u2014 \u201cI didn’t go through that paternal experience,\u201d he says \u2014 but rather is a self-proclaimed \u201cworld’s greatest uncle.\u201d Instead of offspring, though, he sees his legacy live on in Hawai\u2018i’s generations to come and how they positively impact their communities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will care for and protect \u2014 m\u0101lama \u2014 those things that we aloha most,\u201d he concludes. \u201cWe have the capacity to love our homes, our places of birth, our families, and what regenerative tourism is based on is this visceral connection that we love Hawai\u2018i, and we must nurture and protect (it).\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If anyone knows how to care for locals, the islands and their visitors, it\u2019s John De Fries, who is thriving..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-story"],"yoast_head":"\n