Page 4 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - April 21, 2021

4 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK APRIL 21, 2021
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panies. A 22-year-old De Fries Fries’ efforts elevated him to a de-
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“Where Queen Kapi‘olani Ho- tel is, that’s the street I grew up on,” recalls De Fries, who took the helm of HTA last September. “Be- ing 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 ka- ma‘āina.”
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W hen John De Fries ap- plied to be president and CEO of Hawai‘i Tourism Authority last year, he remembers listing his two alma maters on his résumé: Punahou School and Thomas Jefferson El-
served as an ambassador of aloha, leading visiting groups around the island — or islands, depending on the package — and giving them an in-depth look at Hawai‘i through his eyes.
partment management position, and that work experience became what he now calls “the college I never went to.”
put their elementary school?” he muses. Born and raised in the mec- ca of Hawai‘i tourism — Waikīkī — De Fries spent his formative years on the state’s iconic beach.
The 1969 Punahou grad got his start in the state’s most lucrative industry four years later as a tour
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“When you’re in that role, you actually live with the visitors you’ re traveling with, you become familiar with every segment of their experience,” he says, noting that being a free-spirit and single at the time allowed him this op- portunity as a young adult. “A big part of that experience was recre- ational, and you get to relate to the visitor on an intimate level.”
“Academically, it was almost like I was allergic to it,” he says, with a hint of a smile. “I had more parking tickets than credits.”
ementary School.
“How many executive positions
In directing the state’s No. 1 in- dustry, De Fries has the opportu- nity to lead and guide others using the same type of hospitality he was raised with.
His first taste of the state’s vis- itor industry left him wanting to learn more, and he set his sights on understanding how hotels were developed. He took his talents to a lo- cal company that was building three properties — two on Maui and one on Kaua‘i — and was able to learn