The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) announced today that Leslie Dance, its vice president of marketing and product development, has decided to resign from her position on May 15 to return to the mainland and be closer to her family.
Dance is working with HTA’s leadership and staff on a transition plan to ensure that all of the initiatives she has been leading will continue without interruption after her departure.
George D. Szigeti, HTA president and CEO, noted Dance joined HTA at a crucial period to lead its marketing of tourism when HTA was starting to implement its five-year strategic plan for 2016 to 2020. “Leslie is a true professional who brought energy, innovation and fresh thinking to HTA’s marketing at a time when it was needed most. She unified the collective efforts of our Global Marketing Team and has been a strong advocate of HTA’s sports marketing, which has been very successful.”
Dance commented, “I moved back to Hawaii with the specific purpose to support HTA’s mission and help the tourism industry to prosper. I am proud to have been a part of what HTA has been able to accomplish with its branding and marketing of the Hawaiian Islands and seeing the industry flourish. It’s difficult to leave Hawaii because I love these islands, the people, the way of life, and the many friends I have here, but I am needed more by my family on the mainland and need to be closer to them on a year-round basis.”
Dance started at HTA on January 5, 2016. She has always considered Hawaii to be home and relocated from the mainland to support HTA’s tourism marketing efforts for the State of Hawaii. Dance has strong ties to Hawaii, as she was born in Honolulu and has many family members living in the islands. She worked for a decade in public relations on the island of Hawaii and Oahu early in her career before going on to hold executive marketing positions for high-profile corporations in London, Chicago, Rochester (NY), and Seattle.
