An evolving Hawaii visitor fee seeks to avoid pitfalls of prior proposals.
Leave a Comment
63 thoughts on “$50 Hawaii Visitor Fee Returns To Legislature with 2025 Implementation Planned”
An evolving Hawaii visitor fee seeks to avoid pitfalls of prior proposals.
Today I received an email from Costco travel informing me that the Hawaii rental car surcharge tax has gone up 50 cents per day… this on top of the other rental car taxes, hotel taxes, occupancy fees, entrance fees…. now add the impact fee. After our next trip in April, it will be very difficult to return. Hawaii will become the home of the billionaire elites and locals wii be their serfs.
Judging from the high number of responses to this article generated in just the last 36 hours, I’d say you’ve definitely raised an issue of concern to many visitors! Unfortunately, we don’t vote for the politicians who vote these into place. I don’t know how the local tourism workers feel, but if visitors actually DID vote with their dollars and went somewhere else, it would surely effect their jobs. How do we get the local Hawaiian voters to tell the politicians this is a bad idea? Do the locals even feel the same way as the majority of the posters on ths topic? B of H, perhaps you could list the email contact info for some of the politicians pushing for this, and concerned visitors can tell them how we feel? If it even matters?
If Hawaii starts charging a fee just to visit Hawaii on top of the daily hotel resort fees, after spending thousands of dollars in order to enjoy your lovely state, where on the mainland U.S. no other state charges a fee to visit their state or the beaches.
I have stopped looking to buy any real-estate or a slip for my sailboat
“Hawaii has a history of struggling with the effective use of visitor (and resident) taxes and fees, with results often falling short of intended goals….”
I Couldn’t have said it better.
Now If I could only ever get to use the Men’s Room at Iao Valley State Park it would all be worth it.
We are loosing more and more tourists every year, getting gouged on everything from parking fees in kona to ridiculous hotel rates! Why not keep TAT tax on our big island to accommodate infostructures and stop sending every penny of it to fund the rail system on Oahu, small islands don’t have a rail system, let Oahu pay for it! They have 1.1 million people there. Sick of government gouging, soon no one will come here, Mexico and CostaRica will take it all, we need better government brains.
Yet another tax on Tourists? At the state parks already there is a parking fee, a need to get a permit which I assume is not free either, there is an admission fee and now Gov Green wants a license fee on top of what Tourists already have to pay.
Remember the good ole days when on the spur of the moment you could go for a Hike at Diamond Head and it would cost no more then your transportation and 50 cents entrance ?
In Maui, to go to what Was my favorite beach for just 2 hours in the early morning hours when you feel like you have the whole beach to yourself, it now costs $ 10.00 just to park the car and $ 5.00 to walk on the sand. On one hand Hawaii is crying for tourists and on the other hand Tax us till we don’t return.
Wow… I’ve been going to Hawaii for 40-years and have started to get the feeling that you are not wanted (30+ trips). Then the different islands and sites add additional fees/taxes. Now this… If it gets rid of all the others, then maybe it will work. But, it’s becoming clear – the Hawaiians no longer want visitors and that comes from the top of the State Government. I hope they don’t expect a bailout when people finally do stop coming. Unless things change, we may stop traveling to Hawaii-there are other nice places in the world! And we’ve gone over and volunteered to help…
Politicians here in Michigan learned long ago that the sheeple would not vote for general tax increases but they were happy to vote in tax increases for police and fire taxes. Seems like that is the PR tact that Hawaii is now taking. Nothing ever gets done with these additional taxes because they are used to fund the pensions of the former government workers. Someone has to pay for what they were promised. Great article. Thanks for keeping us updated on what is going on in Hawaii.
Will the airline flight crews have to pay the $50 each time they land and layover in HI? or. will the airline pick up the tab? In the end. the passenger will most likely pay for it in addition to their own $50.
Maui County added a new tax: 3% MCTAT
This past month, GET was increased by .5%. Maui Visitors are now paying in excess of 17.5%. Where is this money going?
Maybe time for a comprehensive audit.
Pete
I don’t think the Hawaiian Judicial branch could handle all the cases. The Fed would have to get involved. Maybe they could use the new visitor fee for public defenders.
I travel to Hawaii to visit family and friends, but as a general travel destination, the cost vs quality of experience equation leads me to rank many other places as far preferable.
We have 3 weeks of timeshare ownership in Hawaii. We pay over $400 in GE and property taxes. whether we visit or not. when we visit, we pay $17 per night occupancy tax to stay in a room we have deeded ownership of. we typically stay over 20 days per visit which is an additional $340. We loved going to Hapuna, but now it costs $20 for my wife and I per visit and we probably go at least 5 times during a 20 day stay. adding an additional $100 for my wife and I is an insult.
More fees, more taxes, more, more, more…where does it stop? Have been coming to the islands for many years. This year to Maui and it will be our last trip. Prices have just spiraled out of control in addition to the unfriendly attitudes of the folks who live here. There are a lot of places that are much cheaper and where tourists are welcome.
Fire Marshal Bill here. Oh righty then Now that I live on Hawaii I’ll need that extra 50.00 for my public service announcement videos informing visitors about the dangers of exotic Hawaiian flaming cocktails. Like this Flaming Eruption looks delicious, but danger lurks with this baby. Let me add a little 151 Rum and whip out the old bic lighter…Ahhhh Ahhhh That I would pay 50 to see
The legislature talking about a new visitor fee is really an additional tax. As noted Hawaii already has the highest visitor tax in the nation.
Paying for firefighters not visitors responsibility.
Perhaps fees to rescue people who don’t obey signage would be good though
That’s great but where does it end? Most large cities in the U.S. are short on firefighters. When they decide they have to have more, they raise taxes on the residents or float a bond. The bottom line is they are responsible to provide whatever level of firefighting they determine and they pay for it. Now Hawaii wants visitors to pay for it, not the residents? Aren’t visitors already paying increased hotel, rental car, service fees to help Hawaii recover?
It’s not totally about the money but more about the attitude. What are the people that benefit from these “extra” fees to visitors doing to help themselves?
Remember that for us Californians, Mexico and the Caribbean are closer than Hawaii, and a heck of a lot cheaper.
….and what about all the other built in fees, hidden or not, already from the rentals(hotels, condo’s & residential rentals) being charged? You can only charge so much and people will reach a point where they say “enough is enough”. You’re wanting people to return to the island to financially support the system but the additional fee, I believe, defeats the very purpose.
Honestly, I don’t think any additional fire support would have stopped that fire storm…
The proposed fee/tax is $50 per year. How many visitors actually stay a whole year, 365 days? On a per day basis, that’s 13.7 cents a day. Would I pay $1.37 for a 10 day stay, maybe?
Maybe, a provision should be attached to this bill that an annual public accounting of where all visitor fees and taxes are being spent should be implemented. Failure to do so would mean the forfeiture by all elected officials of all pay, per diem, and benefits for that year. Just a thought.
Visitors have budgets they have to live within. A family of 4 faced with a $200 tab will look for ways to cut other outlays. Fewer meals out, fewer gifts to bring home to friends/family, etc. And businesses and the people who work for those companies will feel the pain.
This govt and every govt should always examine ways to cut costs, not ways to stick it to the people.
Been sick for over 2 months, my activity here will probably remain limited.
Believe me, they won’t stop at $50. Inflation you know… I think I know how the folks who staged the Boston Tea Party felt… At least it’s for 2025, I’m going home next week, so no foul!
Best Regards
Just another money grab from Gov. Green and the rest of his cronies. Should the $50.00 fee passes and a timeshare owner in Maui, I will ask Marriott Vacation Club to sell my two weeks, or transfer to somewhere else other than Hawaii. Between the increase in HOA fees, taxes, local and state fees, rental car and groceries getting too expensive to visit.
Sorry, but the buck can stop here with me and the family.