The writing on the wall isn’t good, with a big cloud hanging over Hawaii travel. This is going to get interesting.
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76 thoughts on “Finding Light In Hawaii Travel’s Bleak Outlook For Summer”
The writing on the wall isn’t good, with a big cloud hanging over Hawaii travel. This is going to get interesting.
Clearly hawaii doesn’t want us to visit. Enjoy being poor.
William- residents Do want you to visit. Our livelihood depends on it and the last few years have been Brutal for local families. The government here doesn’t reflect everyone’s wishes. 🙁 I hope prices come down so people want to come here again.
You need to go to your County council meetings to have your voice heard. On Maui, there are always different meetings on different subjects going on. Not enough supporters of the economy are speaking out. Here is the website where you can check them out and try to attend and/or testify, either in person or online.
mauicounty.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
I’m sure there is a similar site for whatever county you live in.
De-fund HTA and funnel those funds to the schools, social programs, and infrastructure projects.
That is currently in progress, so stay tuned!
It does seem that taxpayers are funding an extensive marketing campaign for mostly out of state investors.
Not happening anymore, they stopped marketing. In fact, they call it “tourism management” now. When is the last time you saw a splashy marketing campaign, put out by the tourism authority? The last thing I heard from them is “We have enough tourists, we don’t need to advertise for more”.
Yes .. I love California ..and the people who love to a different colored state.. since California is a beautiful Blue Color … There is always Texas , Florida , Tennessee.. and enjoy the red color 😉
We have been going to Hawaii every year since 2017. Went to look into our next trip for May and noticed a significant increase in price compared to the same trip over the past years. So…we thought ‘what about Europe’? We are going to France in May and the cost is similar to what we used to spend for Hawaii if not less. We’ll return to Hawaii I’m sure once/if the prices stabilize. We love Hawaii!
Enjoy France. Hope you are going to the South of France. I lived there for 12 years and enjoyed it! Go “upcountry” for good food!
As a Hawaii visitor on the mainland. I can tell you that the loudest news we hear is Stay Away. So who is surprised. We have traveled at least once a year for 12 years. We stay in Waikiki and eat at all the restaurants and shop. We visit museums and other cultural places and events. After watching this all unfold from afar, next time I wont put up with any anti tourist additude. I will spend my dollars where its appreciated. Locals scream they don’t want tourists. So I plan to stay clear of them. See you at the resorts folks!
Bern- not all local residents feel this way. Many want tourism to be robust again. Hope prices come down so you can come back again. 🙂
Just returned from the Big Island, and a month before we were on Kauai on Oahu. Prices were prohibitive. We had plans to go back to Big Island in June and are passing hard. Also, instead of going back to Kauai next Spring, we’ll go elsewhere. $95 for a dinner for two for basic food is beyond ridiculous. Even groceries were astronomical. I don’t know how residents are making it. It’s criminal.
On one of my vacations to Hawaii before the pandemic, I heard a joke that a person cannot throw a rock without hitting a few Californians. I suspect that the subtext is true, and us CA residents are a major share of HI’s visitors. With Silly Valley getting hit hard with layoffs as the tech sector dies down, and people fleeing SoCal, this major source of Hawaii tourism could be drying up.
I think you’re oversimplifying the issue. The main reasons that people cite for leaving CA (53% in a recent survey) are housing costs. BTW, the other two major reasons are family and jobs. So, just from that perspective, if they get cheaper housing or a better job, then they have more disposable income for a Hawaii vacation. it’s also interesting to node that with the advent of remote work during the pandemic the number of middle income and higher income folks moving out of CA has increased. Finally, this move out of CA has been happening for decodes (20+ years at least).
If CA residents move out to avoid Gavin Nuisances management and over taxation, they move to the Midwest or further. Try flying to Hawai’i from the mid-states. It’s a two day operation. Florida is closer. Hawaii tourism is down for sure. I hate that the pandemic killed so many good businesses owned by local families. Hawaiian Airlines is the big stickler here. They recently advertised rates from 150. Not from anywhere near me in WA, but catering to CA. I see a pattern, dont you?
It could also be the really hostile attitude toward tourism which has reached a peak.when there are local checkpoints requiring visitors to pay to to hang on the n. Shore of kauai.. that’s going to make it hard to justify the price of visiting.