72 thoughts on “Aloha On The Endangered List: Hawaii Gone Wrong”
PatG
The thing about this is, I don’t understand why the discontent here on the Islands, and not so much in other tourist-dependent places.
My friends just got back from Puerto Vallarta, and spent time with me comparing their experience and the locals aloha to what visitors have been encountering here.
Puerto Vallarta is an upscale, tourist location, in a beautiful environment that deserves protection, just like here. And yet, there are no lectures on how to treat the beaches, coral, forests, etc., and the locals are absolutely overjoyed to see the visitors. My friends said you could see the joy on their faces. Not once did they encounter an unkind word, a scowl, an impatient gesture, a sharp tone. Why there, and not here? Is it cultural?
We have a timeshare on the Big Island & have visited Hawaii around 16+ times over the last 20 years. We respect the land, the people & try not to leave a footprint. We are not entitled. We’ve mostly had good experiences, save for the time we went horseback riding long before Covid & the guy there told me how much he really couldn’t stand tourists, although he was (professionally) nice to us. But this year, due to what I’ve been reading & car rental prices, etc., we used our points & went to Cabo. Like Patg said, everyone there seemed thrilled to see us & we had a wonderful experience. The hospitality was amazing.
It’s very sad, because I’ve always felt a pull towards Hawaii & it’s my happy place. I always wanted to retire here. But now?
Same in FL.. the upbeat vibe and appreciation that 118 million visitors brought kept smiles everyone’s face there.
I disagree that Civid affected every place negatively. FL set records. And was more than happy to do it just by all.the signs on businesses thanking the Governor.
Sad to hear this. My husband & I honeymooned in Maui last May. It was wonderful & we greatly appreciated the locals we met. We made sure to tip well, were polite & respectful, & abided by all rules & requests. We did meet some who clearly resented our presence. However, we also met several wonderful hospitality workers & locals who seemed happy to engage in conversation. In particular, we had an Uber driver who shared intriguing stories about his life & culture on our ride back from a Luau. We also experienced the Aloha spirit when my husband lost his wallet in a parking lot & later learned it was returned, intact, to the market. Some may say that honesty is the norm, but coming from CA, that was a true blessing! Much respect & thanks!
You make your bed with the devil, be prepared to suffer the consequences. Covid merely switched devils for Hawaii (tourism vs the US federal government).
We elected not to come to Hawaii this year because of our respect for the local’s feelings. The best way we could show malama this year was by not visiting.
We miss the people, your land, and your culture horribly, but we don’t want to contribute to an already dreadful situation.
Aloha. Some day we hope to return.
Sometimes when one saves up for a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience the expectations can be incredibly, impossibly high.
Travel to anywhere is going to have its ups and downs. Nothing is going to be perfect, no matter how much you’ve busted your budget.
I think belligerent travelers come in all stripes.
We’ve owned a couple condos on the north shore of Kauai for five years, which we rent out when we aren’t using them. The feedback we get from our guests is consistent: they love Kauai, they have wonderful vacations, and we’ve never heard them complain about “the locals.” When we are in Kauai, we feel Aloha all the time – whether it is at the beach, hiking, working with locals to get work done on our properties, going to the Princeville Foodland for groceries or eating at restaurants.
We never experience these reported problems between tourists and locals. I’m not sure if we’ve been exceptionally lucky, or maybe the problems are a lot less common on Kauai’s north shore?
We have experienced Kauai on two separate vacations and out of all the islands Kauai is the only one that left us never wanting to return. Why? We visited the Menehune Ditch and my wife parked just off the edge of the narrow road and got out to take a quick photo. A local in a bright red truck came barreling at us from the opposite direction coming down the primitive road. Apparently, he felt we were cramping his style as he did not slow down. My wife jumped back in to move the car, but couldn’t as he angled right beside us blocking her in. He proceeded to roll down his window and curse my wife up one side and down the other. Once finished, he drove off, leaving her in tears. Kauai? No thank you.
I feel that this continuous vilifying of visitors to Hawaii will cause more visitors to not come back. I’d be interested if the writers of the article have any statistics, but of the 100+ weeks we’ve vacationed in Hawaii over 40 years it’s extremely rare that I’ve seen what you’re describing: “visitors stopping in inappropriate places, illegal turns, and u-turns, being overly demanding, and those who get disrespectfully close for photos, and do not respect boundaries that are there to protect wildlife, among other things.” We have a service business on the mainland & there is a small percentage of guests who treat staff poorly, maybe 1 to 2%. If I publicly dramatized the 1 to 2%, I’d likely lose my good guests over time. Not very effective.
I agree Aloha goes both ways. Local born live in CA and their attitude towards HI and Covid and sense of entitlement is unspeakable. I always bite my tongue and reply can my Covid infected cousin come to your grandma’s house and hang out? If tourist wants to visit check your attitude and sense of entitlement before disembarking.
Hawaii and it’s people are a true paradise. We appreciate that they want to protect and preserve their islands and way of life. We hope all these issues can be resolved for the good of Hawaii. Lack of respect and entitlement is a growing disease though out our world today. We Love our times in the Islands and will always treasure all it has to offer. Hope to see you soon.
I cannot say that the Aloha is gone per say. I visited Maui pre COVID. I would say that 95% of the locals were all very inviting and friendly (we drove all over the island and went to local beaches and parks). The beauty of the island leaves you speechless, it truly is magical…. All of that said I will probably never go back. The overall cost to stay there, rent a car, pay for daily food is unreasonably high in my opinion. The hospitality taxes are just too high. Having Hawaii be your yearly trip is just not realistic for the average household. Glad I was able to see it once. If I want to see amazing beaches and great weather, I will probably just stick with going to Mexico and getting a house on or near the beach…..
The thing about this is, I don’t understand why the discontent here on the Islands, and not so much in other tourist-dependent places.
My friends just got back from Puerto Vallarta, and spent time with me comparing their experience and the locals aloha to what visitors have been encountering here.
Puerto Vallarta is an upscale, tourist location, in a beautiful environment that deserves protection, just like here. And yet, there are no lectures on how to treat the beaches, coral, forests, etc., and the locals are absolutely overjoyed to see the visitors. My friends said you could see the joy on their faces. Not once did they encounter an unkind word, a scowl, an impatient gesture, a sharp tone. Why there, and not here? Is it cultural?
We have a timeshare on the Big Island & have visited Hawaii around 16+ times over the last 20 years. We respect the land, the people & try not to leave a footprint. We are not entitled. We’ve mostly had good experiences, save for the time we went horseback riding long before Covid & the guy there told me how much he really couldn’t stand tourists, although he was (professionally) nice to us. But this year, due to what I’ve been reading & car rental prices, etc., we used our points & went to Cabo. Like Patg said, everyone there seemed thrilled to see us & we had a wonderful experience. The hospitality was amazing.
It’s very sad, because I’ve always felt a pull towards Hawaii & it’s my happy place. I always wanted to retire here. But now?
Same in FL.. the upbeat vibe and appreciation that 118 million visitors brought kept smiles everyone’s face there.
I disagree that Civid affected every place negatively. FL set records. And was more than happy to do it just by all.the signs on businesses thanking the Governor.
Sad to hear this. My husband & I honeymooned in Maui last May. It was wonderful & we greatly appreciated the locals we met. We made sure to tip well, were polite & respectful, & abided by all rules & requests. We did meet some who clearly resented our presence. However, we also met several wonderful hospitality workers & locals who seemed happy to engage in conversation. In particular, we had an Uber driver who shared intriguing stories about his life & culture on our ride back from a Luau. We also experienced the Aloha spirit when my husband lost his wallet in a parking lot & later learned it was returned, intact, to the market. Some may say that honesty is the norm, but coming from CA, that was a true blessing! Much respect & thanks!
You make your bed with the devil, be prepared to suffer the consequences. Covid merely switched devils for Hawaii (tourism vs the US federal government).
Greed. The worst smelling cologne.
We elected not to come to Hawaii this year because of our respect for the local’s feelings. The best way we could show malama this year was by not visiting.
We miss the people, your land, and your culture horribly, but we don’t want to contribute to an already dreadful situation.
Aloha. Some day we hope to return.
Sometimes when one saves up for a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience the expectations can be incredibly, impossibly high.
Travel to anywhere is going to have its ups and downs. Nothing is going to be perfect, no matter how much you’ve busted your budget.
I think belligerent travelers come in all stripes.
We’ve owned a couple condos on the north shore of Kauai for five years, which we rent out when we aren’t using them. The feedback we get from our guests is consistent: they love Kauai, they have wonderful vacations, and we’ve never heard them complain about “the locals.” When we are in Kauai, we feel Aloha all the time – whether it is at the beach, hiking, working with locals to get work done on our properties, going to the Princeville Foodland for groceries or eating at restaurants.
We never experience these reported problems between tourists and locals. I’m not sure if we’ve been exceptionally lucky, or maybe the problems are a lot less common on Kauai’s north shore?
We have experienced Kauai on two separate vacations and out of all the islands Kauai is the only one that left us never wanting to return. Why? We visited the Menehune Ditch and my wife parked just off the edge of the narrow road and got out to take a quick photo. A local in a bright red truck came barreling at us from the opposite direction coming down the primitive road. Apparently, he felt we were cramping his style as he did not slow down. My wife jumped back in to move the car, but couldn’t as he angled right beside us blocking her in. He proceeded to roll down his window and curse my wife up one side and down the other. Once finished, he drove off, leaving her in tears. Kauai? No thank you.
I feel that this continuous vilifying of visitors to Hawaii will cause more visitors to not come back. I’d be interested if the writers of the article have any statistics, but of the 100+ weeks we’ve vacationed in Hawaii over 40 years it’s extremely rare that I’ve seen what you’re describing: “visitors stopping in inappropriate places, illegal turns, and u-turns, being overly demanding, and those who get disrespectfully close for photos, and do not respect boundaries that are there to protect wildlife, among other things.” We have a service business on the mainland & there is a small percentage of guests who treat staff poorly, maybe 1 to 2%. If I publicly dramatized the 1 to 2%, I’d likely lose my good guests over time. Not very effective.
I agree Aloha goes both ways. Local born live in CA and their attitude towards HI and Covid and sense of entitlement is unspeakable. I always bite my tongue and reply can my Covid infected cousin come to your grandma’s house and hang out? If tourist wants to visit check your attitude and sense of entitlement before disembarking.
Hawaii and it’s people are a true paradise. We appreciate that they want to protect and preserve their islands and way of life. We hope all these issues can be resolved for the good of Hawaii. Lack of respect and entitlement is a growing disease though out our world today. We Love our times in the Islands and will always treasure all it has to offer. Hope to see you soon.
I cannot say that the Aloha is gone per say. I visited Maui pre COVID. I would say that 95% of the locals were all very inviting and friendly (we drove all over the island and went to local beaches and parks). The beauty of the island leaves you speechless, it truly is magical…. All of that said I will probably never go back. The overall cost to stay there, rent a car, pay for daily food is unreasonably high in my opinion. The hospitality taxes are just too high. Having Hawaii be your yearly trip is just not realistic for the average household. Glad I was able to see it once. If I want to see amazing beaches and great weather, I will probably just stick with going to Mexico and getting a house on or near the beach…..