155 thoughts on “With State Destitute, How Will Hawaii Market Itself?”
Gary K.
I am now questioning whether anyone in a senior position in the State of Hawaii or Big Island County government is remotely competent. The way they are handling visitation rules is embarrassing. Why don’t they turn over management to the tax revenue collection people. They are very good at collecting taxes on the property and vehicle I own, but cannot rent or visit.
Lanell
How funny, great idea! Our property taxes on a relatively modest ($159 to $220 per night) vacation rental/personal use condo on Maui were just raised from $5000 to $6000 this year. I don’t really mind paying it, I think the Maui County needs the revenue. What strikes me funny is that this is one department that really does not mess around. They have a really good website, communication and collect every last penny very efficiently. I might add, I don’t think people understand how much property tax these vacation rentals pay, taxes for owner occupied are way less… as they should be. But, with no money coming in…
BOH, as usual, thanks for the info and perspective. We’d like to be able to rent, or come over ourselves and quarantine but can’t risks getting in a plane without people being tested first. Nor do I want to impact the health care system that is really pretty small.
Lani
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Lani.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Charles D
Thank you, that is a really good question. Hawaii has beautiful landscape, best climate, and warm & friendly people. That sells itself, as long as bad policy or politics doesn’t get in the way. My answer would be to vote out the people currently holding office in Hawaii, and replace them with someone who can make a (intelligent) decision.
Best of Luck in the future, look forward to being back there some day.
Mahalo
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Charles.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Kathi E.
I feel that the highest priority at this point has to be to get a testing program in place as soon as possible. If visitors are able to come with a negative test within 72 hours of flying, and then not have to quarantine for two weeks, it will make all the difference. Then, retest there with a rapid test, and people will be ready to go, and Hawai’i won’t have to mess around with bubble resorts and tracking people. If universities can do it, so can Hawai’i!
Kerry B
Once it does open up, the thing that will continue to hinder the growth of tourism will be the gouging of tourists to make up lost revenues. Some will be overt, other not so much, such as the pure profit “resort fees” which I predict will climb greatly. (It’s why I don’t go to the islands much any more, it just got ridiculous).
Ed
Get rid of all Democratic politicians in the state!
Todd
Yesterday, I booked a Maui trip for the end of January. If HI still requires a COVID test in January to avoid the 14-day quarantine, then I will need to cancel the trip because the hotel has a 7-day cancellation policy. I suspect that I’ll need to cancel the trip, but it’s cheaper to book now and cancel later rather than book at the last minute once the State finally gets its act together. I do have back-up trips booked for Mexico, so my vacation dollars will be going somewhere if Hawai’i continues to refuse to accept them.
Scott
1) Legalize pot growing for export.
2) Legalize gambling, an alternative to mandatory taxation.
3) After tourism restarts (post vaccine Q4 2021?)
a) Legalize recreational pot us
b) Legalize gambling on Hawaiian homeland (i.e. Indian casinos) under a share plan involving the State, HHL, and Hawaiian natives. Institute a revenue sharing arrangement that pays each legal “real” Hawaiian $$$ like Alaska does with the Oil Trust. Board of Governors comprise of equal parts of the three to administer payments using a strict formula.
Sheila C
Wow
Jon D
Aloha-I love, love love Kauai and am very said that we had to finally cancel our 2020 trip. We have rescheduled for next spring. I won’t return however, even if it is safe until the state decides it truly wants me. Many official reports blamed many early virus cases on tourists. It has been proven that all the recent spike has been caused by locals.
These are the same locals that have said many times in these comments that they really don’t want us. Any ad campaign to win back tourism needs to be centered by a heartfelt apology for the misinformation spread by the state and vitriol spewed by locals that clearly don’t appear to want us.
Mahalo!
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Jon.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Bob L
Until Hawaii can get their act together with the quarantine situation no amount of marketing is going to get me to return. I will not bother making plans in Hawaii until the pandemic is over. Hawaii has probably lost my $$$ for at least the next 4-5 years.
Michael R
Thanks for including the info from the “strategic marketing plan.” Those goals are quite vague. I was hoping to see something measurable and concrete, such as “Return to Pre-Covid tourism volume within xxx years” and similar. Many reasons for vague goals/objectives, typically vague input and lack of direction from the authorizing organization. As someone who spent decades in public relations (including tourism destination marketing) the first question has to be: “What do we want to accomplish?”
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Michael.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Comments are closed.
Aloha!
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I am now questioning whether anyone in a senior position in the State of Hawaii or Big Island County government is remotely competent. The way they are handling visitation rules is embarrassing. Why don’t they turn over management to the tax revenue collection people. They are very good at collecting taxes on the property and vehicle I own, but cannot rent or visit.
How funny, great idea! Our property taxes on a relatively modest ($159 to $220 per night) vacation rental/personal use condo on Maui were just raised from $5000 to $6000 this year. I don’t really mind paying it, I think the Maui County needs the revenue. What strikes me funny is that this is one department that really does not mess around. They have a really good website, communication and collect every last penny very efficiently. I might add, I don’t think people understand how much property tax these vacation rentals pay, taxes for owner occupied are way less… as they should be. But, with no money coming in…
BOH, as usual, thanks for the info and perspective. We’d like to be able to rent, or come over ourselves and quarantine but can’t risks getting in a plane without people being tested first. Nor do I want to impact the health care system that is really pretty small.
Lani
Hi Lani.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Thank you, that is a really good question. Hawaii has beautiful landscape, best climate, and warm & friendly people. That sells itself, as long as bad policy or politics doesn’t get in the way. My answer would be to vote out the people currently holding office in Hawaii, and replace them with someone who can make a (intelligent) decision.
Best of Luck in the future, look forward to being back there some day.
Mahalo
Hi Charles.
Thanks.
Aloha.
I feel that the highest priority at this point has to be to get a testing program in place as soon as possible. If visitors are able to come with a negative test within 72 hours of flying, and then not have to quarantine for two weeks, it will make all the difference. Then, retest there with a rapid test, and people will be ready to go, and Hawai’i won’t have to mess around with bubble resorts and tracking people. If universities can do it, so can Hawai’i!
Once it does open up, the thing that will continue to hinder the growth of tourism will be the gouging of tourists to make up lost revenues. Some will be overt, other not so much, such as the pure profit “resort fees” which I predict will climb greatly. (It’s why I don’t go to the islands much any more, it just got ridiculous).
Get rid of all Democratic politicians in the state!
Yesterday, I booked a Maui trip for the end of January. If HI still requires a COVID test in January to avoid the 14-day quarantine, then I will need to cancel the trip because the hotel has a 7-day cancellation policy. I suspect that I’ll need to cancel the trip, but it’s cheaper to book now and cancel later rather than book at the last minute once the State finally gets its act together. I do have back-up trips booked for Mexico, so my vacation dollars will be going somewhere if Hawai’i continues to refuse to accept them.
1) Legalize pot growing for export.
2) Legalize gambling, an alternative to mandatory taxation.
3) After tourism restarts (post vaccine Q4 2021?)
a) Legalize recreational pot us
b) Legalize gambling on Hawaiian homeland (i.e. Indian casinos) under a share plan involving the State, HHL, and Hawaiian natives. Institute a revenue sharing arrangement that pays each legal “real” Hawaiian $$$ like Alaska does with the Oil Trust. Board of Governors comprise of equal parts of the three to administer payments using a strict formula.
Wow
Aloha-I love, love love Kauai and am very said that we had to finally cancel our 2020 trip. We have rescheduled for next spring. I won’t return however, even if it is safe until the state decides it truly wants me. Many official reports blamed many early virus cases on tourists. It has been proven that all the recent spike has been caused by locals.
These are the same locals that have said many times in these comments that they really don’t want us. Any ad campaign to win back tourism needs to be centered by a heartfelt apology for the misinformation spread by the state and vitriol spewed by locals that clearly don’t appear to want us.
Mahalo!
Hi Jon.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Until Hawaii can get their act together with the quarantine situation no amount of marketing is going to get me to return. I will not bother making plans in Hawaii until the pandemic is over. Hawaii has probably lost my $$$ for at least the next 4-5 years.
Thanks for including the info from the “strategic marketing plan.” Those goals are quite vague. I was hoping to see something measurable and concrete, such as “Return to Pre-Covid tourism volume within xxx years” and similar. Many reasons for vague goals/objectives, typically vague input and lack of direction from the authorizing organization. As someone who spent decades in public relations (including tourism destination marketing) the first question has to be: “What do we want to accomplish?”
Hi Michael.
Thank you.
Aloha.