With visitors in an uproar. What are your feelings about the fee proposed by Green in addition and all of the other Hawaii taxes and fees?
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270 thoughts on “Updated: $50 Hawaii Visitor Fee & Reducing Tourists Confirmed By Next Governor”
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Good Government presents a balanced plan where other economic activity will balance the budget.
An uncosted “sound bite” of tax the tourist or tax the rich. Is not good government per se.
Perhaps they should tax second homers or migrants from the mainland?
If a fee delivers a benefit then it will not reduce cost benefit equation and may promote more tourism of the required type. The bargain basement trade does little to benefit the islands as they contribute to eco damage too but do less to benefit local businesses and hence tax income. That said is it truly aloha spirit to say we only want you if you have money?
More thought and less politics are needed with cooler heads and less sound bites.
all I want to say is I think Hawaii is taxing to much to support themselves and ideas
I think it is a bad decision. But if necessary, I will visit and pay but I only have a set budget for my Hawaii vacation. So it will mean redistributing my dollars. I will spend $50 less on nice restraints or tours or souvenir shopping or local Hawaiin charities.
We only have a set amount to spend. Just that simple. But I will not deny myself a week of rest and beautiful weather just to make a politician look good. No…I won’t allow him to ruin my annual birthday visit to paradise. I am happy hanging out on a gorgeous beach eating bologna or spam sandwiches. A $10 dollar fee would be less objectionable!
I think how ever you look at it, it is another nail in the coffin called Hawaii. They are hardly hanging on now, it looks like and then you add a “little” more money to it. Covid did a lot of damage to the Islands and I think it will continue to damage it. It is becoming too expensive to vacation there.
If this is brought on by damage to reefs from boats that hit them – let the boat owners pay for the damage. If it is because people are harassing ocean animals – fine them. There is suppose to be hefty fines for even touching a sea turtle. Extend it to include whales and dolphins. But why is that my problem that there are idiots there!
I think a fee to go to the islands would be the tip of the iceberg. It would ruin the tourism for Hawaii. There are already sky high taxes on the hotels and resorts. The price of a rental car is sky high. Most resorts have a parking fee. Food has gone even higher than it was last year and there are a lot fewer tourists already. I think the islands are suffering from lack of people working and lack of tourists and then you want to put on another money amount for something that is not 99% of the tourists fault??? If it is because boats run in to reefs -make the boater pay for the damages. If people are harassing the sea animals fine or arrest them. There has always been a fine for touching the sea turtles. Enforce the damage!
Do the crime do the time. Don’t spread out to the law abiding citizens. Need Island wide pickup trash and free day at the landfill. Government saves money from volunteer labor and Island is cleaned up.
Americans just don’t go to Hawaii. There are cheaper and nicer islands to go to.
Can’t believe this policy is constitutional.
Sure a long ways from trying hard to get people to choose Hawaii as their vacation spot.
Fair is fair. If Hawaii is going to charge American Citizens a fee to visit their state, then ALL 49 other states should charge Hawaiians a fee to visit their states too! Does Hawaii think conservation is only for their state? Do they think they’re not really a state so they can violate the inter-state commerce clause? We can escalate this nonsense any way they want to but I have a guarantee from my Senator in Congress, they’re going to get targeted the same way they target the rest of the states. Perhaps if they wanted to screw their fellow Americans, they should have thought twice about voting to become a state and all the federal commerce and free interstate travel laws that entails? It’s too late for that now. Abide the law.
Had a question to ask about how this will be applied. Currently, the colleges and universities in Hawaii compete in various sports. As such, the visiting team flies over for the competitions. Will each team be charged the fee for each member? That added cost might keep teams from coming over, especially the larger squads. Would this fee also apply to folks whose job requires them to travel to Hawaii for meetings or other work. Not asking about conventions but day to day work.
That is a solid and fair question Hal. A football team travels with at least 50 people. But in all reality, a couple thousand dollars to a D1 school is not a big deal.
The team is 50 players but you add in coaches, trainers, band, and fans. While the elite D1 schools may find this chump change the smaller FCS schools do count pennies.
My youngest was on the Arizona Teams from ’96 thru ’98, I know they brought everyone, 80-90 Players, 25 Coaches and Trainers, that’s pretty much a full Charter. I think this is still a Tax that violates Inter-State Commerce.
Again, agree, the PAC-12, no problem, but Hawaii is in the Mountain West, I think, and even Schools like UTEP, NMSU, UNM may have pause to bring all.
They are in the Big West for other sports and I think budgets are even more important there. Might be that the conference would reduce the number of trips there to every other time.
Great point, I’m sure the Bureacracy of Hawaii hasn’t thought that one out. On the Business side, as one who covered Hawaii from 1986-2014, as many as 5X/Yr., I’m sure Employers would become weary, as belt tightening measures constrict Sales, with the Zoom mentality, not the solution.
One of the early stories on this subject said that one of the purposes was to eliminate or reduce the “low end” visitor to Hawaii. Is this fair? In other word, you can’t visit Hawaii unless you are rich??
Or you can look at it the other way around. Does anyone have a “right” to go on vacation to Hawaii? Should others support the cost of your vacation? For example, I want to drive a Ferrari, but can’t afford one, so should Ferrari be forced to reduce it’s prices? Or should the people of Italy subsidize Ferrari to the point where I can now afford one?
We are not subsidizing your trip to Hawai’i, rather Uncle Josh wants to tax you for coming here and crossing an imagi ary line. Your comparison is of two different concepts that are not equivalent. And interstate travel is protected whereas purchasing a car, subsidized or not, is not.
I believe we’ll see very soon what SCOTUS thinks about interstate travel.
I think you misunderstood my point, sorry I wasn’t clear. I wasn’t referring to just the tax, but I was responding to the comment that Hawaii is trying to reduce the “low end” traveller. The implication in that post is that Hawaii should cater to those kinds of travelers by making a trip there “affordable”. In effect, subsidizing that trip for those with limited money to spend.
The Interstate Commerce Act and subsequent US SUpreme Court decisions expressly prohibits any state attempting to unreasonably interfere with any US citizen the freedom to travel between any of the united states. See the 1999 US Supreme Court decision known as Saedz vs Roe which reaffirmed the prohibition of any state interfering with interstate travel adding that a stare may do so only if public health is endangered.
Yes but how do you define “unreasonably” or “interfere”? Ones person’s reasonable may not be for someone else.
The Supreme court in explaining its decision said the only exception to its travel non-interference order would be travel that would endanger public health. Otherwise the Court said no state may impede or otherwise restrict interstate travel. I suggest that anyone interested – particularly Hawaiian government leadership read the Supreme Court’s decision and implied directives in this case.
Pandering politicians propose passing unconstitutional laws all the time. Legislatures pass unconstitutional laws. That’s how we get SCOTUS decisions that strike down those laws. Green surely knows his proposal is unconstitutional. He does not care. He is appealing to emotion. “If elected, I will blah blah blah.”
The beauty of this way of governing is that, until a court says otherwise, Green can still enforce his unconstitutional law. Then he can blame the court for taking it away. Public outrage at the court, and not at the legislature who passed it.
If and when any government would overtly enact any provision interfering with state-to-state travel, any person on entity with “standing” may file suit (usually in federal district court) to enjoin or negate the provision. That is normal procedure for challenging a blatant violation of a Supreme Court decision.
So does that mean that any tax in a visitor would also be struck down? For example the tax on hotel rooms? In other words, it seems to me that suggesting that ANY fee or tax that’s only on visitors (parking fees?) is a “restraint” by your reading of the Supreme Court ruling. I’ve said this before, and I know that some people will hate me for it. But, it’s the eighth of entitlement to expect a “cheap” Hawaii vacation. I want to drive a Ferrari, but can’t afford to. I’m not advocating for the government to force Ferrari to reduce the price of their car so that anyone can afford one.
I think the difference is that for hotels you don’t need to be a “visitor” to pay those fees and taxes. Everyone gets stuck paying those. Now if the do institute the $50 “visitor” fee to Hawaii and don’t charge everyone, then there probably will be an issue. Plenty of fees on the mainland for parking and hotels, etc that apply to everyone.
One parking fee I know about that locals don’t get charged is in Laguna Beach. Residents can get a sticker that allows for free parking. But that’s just the city.
But you’re making an assumption that a “fee” or tax would be an “unreasonable” interference. The question is, would the court look at it that way? A $50 addition to a $4k vacation seems to me like a not much in the way of interference, not does it seem unreasonable.
Hawaii has all manner of taxes, including hotel taxes (transient accommodations tax). So do most all states/counties/cites. And they can (and do) tax rental cars. But everyone has to pay, not just the people from out of state.
No- The only issue in this SC decision was the attenpt by any state to prohibit interstate travel except in cases where public health is in jeopardy. Rather than debate the issue anyone interested shpuld first read the actual SC decision. See the case caption in my earlier comment.
Define “impede” Is a $50 fee impeding? Can you apply that to airfare in general? Especially when it gets really high?
Impede is somewhat subjective. But, the airline fee would be perfectly legal so long as everyone has to pay it, not just non-residents. We already pay taxes/fees on airline tickets. This is just a question of how much to pay.
My only suggestion to Mr. Green is do your homework before developing illegal proposals.
First and foremost, it is not a “foregone conclusion” that Green will be the governor. The ballots have not been cast yet and you are already declaring something that has not happened.
I declare that Green will not be the next governor and that the “Green Fee” will not come to fruition.
they should be ready for lawsuits. as far as I know it’s illegal to restrict free tracel within the united states for citizens. I know it’s a supposed green fee put when i come and pay the 50 dollars i would send a few emails to several law firms who do class action suits and I have a feeling some would be interested. I’m sure visitors who come wouldn’t mind paying a fee, just think it may be unconstitutional without being voluntary. I left hawaii as a resident after almost 30 years living there and i like to visit friends but each time i return it gets more depressing seeing what has happened to my beautiful island since i left 10 years ago.
If the comments here are any indication the fee is working. The numbers seem to be back to what they were pre-covid and visitors from Japan are not nearly what they were before.
Thanks for keeping us apprised of this changing situation. We’re looking forward to our next visit!
Green’s proposal seems short-sighted to me. I understand why Hawaii wants to cut back its tourism industry. I’ve seen myself how tourism hurts the islands’ ecosystems, housing market, and income distribution. But what will replace the lost jobs and revenue? The state’s government should focus on diversifying its economy; not less tourism, but more of other types of business. That’s also more consistent with the wonderful Hawaiian traditions of aloha and hospitality.
I’ll gladly pay a small extra fee. Least we can do for stealing Hawaii away and then building a naval port where Hawaiians had built aquaculture for seaweed and fish that made them sustainable for hundreds of years. And I’ll gladly pay more to gracious Hawaiians who welcome those who deserve to be welcomed and who take the brunt of ungrateful tourists from the mainland. I’ll gladly accept those who don’t wanna go. Stay away.
Aloha. It’s nice to see there’s such a grateful person as you. I’ve already given my opinion, but after 130 plus years I don’t hold myself responsible/guilty for what greedy people did then. The Hawaiian islands are beautiful, and we truly enjoy the ohana feeling while we visit. We pay what we need to. The “Concessionaire’s fee” for rental cars about tripled in recent years. We buy local foods, not always big box stores. We volunteer when we visit. Although, after 10 visits, the island prices are exorbitant. I figure 2023 is our last, and you can go ahead and pay. Aloha!
Agree , 2023 last .
So, maybe Las Vegas should charge a $50 entrance fee for every Hawaii resident that visits.
Seems only fair, given the grift that it is!
Lost Vegas needs a lot more than $50.
It seems two things are obvious from the comments being posted. It looks like the $50 fee proposal may indeed be effective as so many visitors are saying enough all ready, they are not coming back. I think they mean it as they have reached their max with additional fees. The other thing that is glaring obvious is that the residents have no confidence that the powers that be will use these fees to address environmental, climate or affordable housing. There is a deep mistrust of accountability for these funds
This really affects those with low income and seems really extreme. Does this replace the $25-35 daily resort fee charged almost everywhere?
All these changes are understandable. But will someone be policing how the money is spent?
Perhaps those pesky tourists should take their
hard earned vacation dollars to another destination and let the Hawaiian residents support their state in another manner. Gone are the sugar cane and pineapple fields of past years. What will you peddle? And when they, the hard working Hawaiians, decide to vacation away from their own soil, perhaps a fee should apply to their travels as well. Sounds fair to me. Resort fees, excess taxes and now a purposed $50 green fee is biting the hand that feeds you! Enough already!
It’s not just Hawaiians who don’t want pesky tourists. All of my clients who travel to Hawaii prefer less of those pesky tourists too. They give a bad name to the rest of the respectful travelers unlike people like you who leave a trail of trash and trashiness.
Tourists dont leave old cars and refrigerators along side the road. Current taxes are not pumping the porta potties or picking up said refrigerators.
25 to 35 is getting off cheap. I saw someone on the news there that runs one of the hotels talking about you get so much with the resort fees parking, bottled water, free breakfast, etc. umm no you don’t that’s extra also.
Residents of hawaii pay enough fees just living here. Visitors should have been paying a fee a long time ago! I agree . Eliminate the thought of universal fee🙄🥱
I am a relatively frequent Hawaii visitor and think the free is a good idea to continue to maintain the coral and natural environment. One could see the benefits during covid on the environment.
However, ensuring the money is utilized appropriately is always a concern.
Yea, let’s rob the people of more money. To support your agenda. I hope Green doesn’t get in. His whole idea is about Money. Nothing else.
Went to Hawaii with my wife for the third and FINAL time. Made it there just before you had to reserve a date to climb Diamond Head. Then I hear there will be resident only times at some beaches and now an additional $50 fee for all visitors. I thought Hawaii depended on tourists. Well, this is one tourist that will not be back.
I would be open to a fee if it were spent correctly. Unfortunately, all it will do is create an additional revenue stream for the politicians with more cronyism, more graft, and more hiring of friends and family with no accountability. It’s a shame that we operate as a 3rd world country when it comes to politics. We’re not anywhere near as bad as Puerto Rico but we’re not that great either.
Exactly dude !!!
Yes, the fees and taxes go to the union government workers in Hilo from Kona side. Then the unions support the politicians. Circle of life.
I think this fee is brutal and agree with some of the comments as counter productive.
I have seen Greens website and he likes to fix the homelessness and housing affordability in Hawaii which I applaud but it needs critical evaluation rather than a knee jerk reaction by charging this outrageous $50 dollar visitors fee.
The housing affordability in Hawaii is almost non existent to the Native Hawaiians and residents on top of the high taxes that they pay (including my parents)
Housing ownership regulations needs to be addressed and assessed properly. I am born and bred in Hawaii to a native Hawaiian mother and a Tongan father so I am Polynesian through and through. It was the tourists that fed our family and sent me to nursing school.
If they want to lower house prices get rid of the unions there. That’s 50 percent of the cost. I remember in 2012 they were going to ship in homes built on the mainland and shipped over to be assembled in Hawaii would have dropped prices by 35 percent it was stopped. My neighbor was a union painter made $55 an hour for 6 weeks paid vacation and zero copay health insurance he was 26 and a highschool drop out. On weekends he’s paint homes with the paint equipment for 3k cash. Why would anyone go to college there? I put solar in on my home in hoakalei non union was half price of my neighbors they gave me a free iPad and I had 20 percent more solar panels. They have no desire to give people affordable housing.
Because the union also pays the government of Hawaii and continuously renegotiates without consulting the locals. Hawaii is a group of small islands, Its not California or texas so property rentals let alone ownership is getting out of control. The problem is people can buy multiple properties while some (many) lose out. Hawaii makes millions if not billions of dollars in revenue from tourism yet where does the money go? With that amount of money our roads and scools are not addressed and not to mention that train system? Affordable housing regulations should be on the cards of the new governor with transparency for the locals.
Sounds like a new program to fraudulent still from misuse the funds like there personal piggy bank…plus some main land states takes hawaii garbage and there abandoned vehicles and yes we take your over flow of cats and dogs …I feel if I’m visiting family in hawaii I should not have to pay a visitor fee…I’m not using any amenities…
Add-in their incarcerated Prisoners, housed in States like Arizona, what’s that all about? Hawaii has an Income a Tax, a Budget, make room for Housing, instead of Taxing those in other States who visit and spend $ in Hawaii creating Revenue!
If a fee is imposed Hawaii residents traveling to and from the mainland who have proper Hawaii Resident identification at the airport or boat dock should be exempt. All travelers traveling from abroad or entering the US via Hawaii should pay, regardless if they are a Hawaii resident or not.
I am from the East Coast of the U.S.. Honestly, I am not sure I would want to visit Hawaii with all the fees and prices. Not to say never, the Islands are just on my low end of places to visit. If I want to go to a tropical beach, I would go to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, or Mexico instead.
Hawaii is a special place. If a fee needs to be imposed to help ensure its prosperity and current state for all to enjoy, why not? I just hope the money goes to the right places and not like lottery funds do all over the country.
Arizonas a special place guess we will do the same.
I knew they would get me eventually.
When I visit I stay with my My brother-in-law who lives in Kilauea and he lets me use his truck so no hotel “fees” or rental car “tariffs”. We eat out rarely and just buy the normal groceries that everyone else buys.
I’m one of the lucky few that can live like a local when visiting. (and I was born in HI before it was a state) 🙂
This could become a cautionary tale of be careful what you wish for, you might just get it and you may not like it.
We bought a condo in Maui. We understand the squeeze tourists are experiencing and we try to offer value to visitors. A modest increase in TOT (1%) dedicated to environmental impacts is better suited than a $50 per person fee. The visitor fee, we doubt, would survive legal challenges in any case. A small assessment fee could also be added property tax bills dedicated to environmental impacts as well. There are ways to address these costs while minimizing the impacts to important tourism revenue.
I suppose a ‘visitors fee ($50?) will be imposed on all Hawaiians going to the mainland, & a $50 per visit per state ‘green fee’ would be very costly to your citizens.. payback for all the fees charged now I suppose. Be careful Hawaii, unintended consequences will bite you. Its not tourists abandoning cars, tires, washing machines, & I doubt most of the homeless are visitors…or do you charge a fee as well? I love visiting here, but I would help your governor meet his goal to reduce tourism & spend my thousands of $$ somewhere else…
I am more than willing to pay a fee if it is appropriated responsibly.It should also include a complimentary pen to fill out the agriculture form upon landing in Hawaii.
I haven’t filled out one of those forms in years. I just say my wife a few rows up did it. Those forms are meant to track the animals coming to the islands.
This is ridiculous. Each state will have to start charging Hawaiians $20 when they visit the mainland.
I think it is a cruel way to welcome guests to our island. This is no way to make guests feel welcome and want to spend their money on our tourist industry. As it is pointed out in the article there is no accountability for the 18% fee already designated from tourists. In addition they already pay a visitors fee to some of our beaches. We are not and aloha state if we pinpoint penalties on guests coming to our home
Brava Joyce!
Thank you showing the Aloha spirit Joyce. I must say I felt welcome when I visited.
I believe the simplest most equitable solution is a fee added to all non inter island air fares and maritime arrivals. This would be collected by the carriers so no wasted budget on that. Those making multiple trips overseas are not the ones struggling to pay a fee and the pollution caused by travel goes up per trip. Kama’aina and Malahini could pay a lower fee as a Kama’aina rate and regular (business) travelers could prepay at a reduced rate for multiple trips. Key thing is to lock down what it is spent on.
This seems counterproductive. To charge us to park at a beach and now just to set foot in the state will certainly deter return visitors. On top of exorbitant hotel rates, car rentals and those mystery “fees” on nearly everything makes Hawaii a vacation spot for only the uber rich. If I am paying all this extra money, I want it to go directly into someone’s bank account, not the government, with all its bureaucracy, costly “studies,” etc. And why should I pay the same fee when only visiting 3 days as those there for 3 months.
Oh it’s definitely going into Someone’s back account.
People need to stop going to Hawaii with champagne dreams on a beer budget. Just go to San Diego instead.
Aloha! San Diego is a beautiful place to go to, and we go there often, but on our “beer budget” we’ve seen and done things during our 11 visits to Maui, including driving 4/5ths around the entire island, that we’d never been able to do in San Diego. We’ve been to the Pro Bowl & Pearl Harbor twice on Oahu. We’ve been to Kilauea and the Thurston Lava Tube, and ancient Hawaiian fishing village on Hawai’i. Besides it’s just about as expensive in San Diego; especially if going to a game, eating at Buca’s, taking a bay cruise, & staying on the bay. Aloha!
This will not stop tourism to the islands. As a resident, I’d like to understand better just where these “fees” are going and to what end.
This practice will reduce tourism in Hawaii, which is the MAJOR INCOME for the Islands. This will send the Hawaiian economy spiraling, making it worse than it is now. Tourism is Hawaii’s major income and will hinder the ability for people to visit their Ohana and friends. I think the idea is not a smart move, because at this point in time, with the economy as a whole being as poor as it is and surely to get worse, will be the demise of hawaiian tourism and income.
Agree this is a possibility. New fees, restrictions on and costs for beach visits and the rising prices in general in the islands (seem much higher than on the mainland) will make us reconsider our prior yearly visits (for 20 years). Direct fees and access rules seem much more targeted at visitors, like a slap in the face for going there (especially added to a feeling of background hostility to visitors); buried fees not so much. Sad but major income loss for Maui as we spent a lot of money there, likely well over $12K/visit (excludes airfare). Will relook at Mexico and the Caribbean for sunny beach vacations but also at places that are just warm & sunny, like the southern US states.
Was planning on going for our 40th Wedding anniversary in 2024. Glad we went in March 2022 with my girls cause we won’t be visiting Hawaii again.
Well, I can see a ‘visitor fee’ if the money truly goes to improving the environment and infrastructure of the islands. But, that money should be in a separate account and there should be a legislative committee specifically assigned to managing this money with legislative established rules on what the money can be spent on. If controls aren’t in place for this fund, you know what will happen to them once the legislature get there hands on them.
This whole topic is very misguided and could be easily solved. If Hawaii wants less tourists and less visitor impact, they could reduce the volume of hotel accomodations and place bans/limits on AirBnb/VRBO residences. The issue here is the amount of corruption going on within government and bereaucratic circles, where they are 2lwilling to takw developer dollars, but want no accountability for the trickle down effects of the hospitality industry.
Instead, the bait and switch maneuver is more fees. More regulation. No accounting for funds.