Hawaii Tourism Authority COO Randy Baldemor will resign his position effective March 2, the state agency announced.
"I'm so appreciative for the opportunity to have worked at the Hawaii Tourism Authority and to help our state in the area of tourism," Baldemor said in a statement issued by HTA. "This was my decision and I'm doing this to allow myself the opportunity to continue growing as a person and to explore other ways of contributing to this community that I love."
Baldemor joined the tourism authority in June 2015. A lawyer by trade who started his professional career in private practice, he previously worked for the Aloha State in the department of human resources development, office of the governor, and department of taxation.
"Randy was the first person I hired at HTA and his vision and passion for improving tourism was instrumental in revitalizing the culture at HTA, and establishing policies and procedures that bolstered our operations in support of Hawaii's most important industry," HTA president and CEO George D. Szigeti said in a statement. "Randy was responsible for developing strategies to expand Hawaii's air access network and he was a driving force in the rebranding of the annual Global Tourism Summit. He served HTA with professionalism, integrity and class."