There’s no way this will be anything but fuel for the fire of Hawaii tourism’s makeover.
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380 thoughts on “Hawaii “Does Not Encourage Visiting:” Waikiki, Diamond Head, Volcanoes, Poipu, Etc.”
There’s no way this will be anything but fuel for the fire of Hawaii tourism’s makeover.
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Agree over tourism does take toll on island and residents, however it does run our economy. Good luck undoing what was acheived of decades of marketing. Heres a thought if theres no place to stay , wouldnt the amount of visitors be restricted ?? Maybe control all the rental properties, no place to stay no visitor! Got alot of off island people renting there homes. We have on each island drains and abuses of land and resources that are highly visible i live big island, been to coconut island lately ? Theres a couple that took up residence in shelter there stuff strewn all over, grafitti on walls. However that mayb cure for over tourism let them pitch tents and park wagons all over the hotspots im sure the visitors will back off.
But how is it that the Hawaiian Islands became inhabited? By ancient Polynesian peoples arriving by dugout canoes? Well does that disqualify the title of being “native” to Hawaii?
Polynesian seafarers from the Marquesas Islands are thought to be the first humans inhabiting the Hawaiian archipelago. For many hundreds of years this original native population grew in thrived, and became one of the most advanced kingdoms in the Pacific Ocean basin. Then the Europeans arrived, and it was conquest, colonization, religious sublimation and finally the forced and illegal annexation of the islands by the United States government. I would say people who can trace their roots back prior to US annexation have the strongest claim to being cultural Hawaiians. Ethnicity really doesn’t play much into it anymore.
Do these people forget that tourism is the life blood of these islands? Without visitors we wither, as we saw during the pandemic. They are the very definition of short-sighted…
Tourism is like a serious drug addiction. Continued use of the drug provides temporary relief of cravings and undesirable symptoms, and it is very difficult for the drug addict to imagine a life without the calming effects of the drug. But eventually the drug must be rejected and stopped, or the user will succumb to it. It isn’t easy to do, but it can be done, and the outcome is always much better than the addiction ever was.
Many times, such as this, those at the top of the trade are not held accountable. It’s not the Tourists fault, they have been lured and invited for decades to vacation in Hawaii, to spend money. Question: Who has prospered through this time? It’s not the Average Hawaiian, however it Is the Resort/Timeshare/Hotel Industry. They are the Beneficiary, along with Politicians, to the Tourism Industry and the Wealth it brings. Simply look at all of the Construction in Honolulu and then tell me that Tourism will be Decreased for long, it’s not the plan. Too many are blaming wrongly, it’s time to realize and re-affix the blame.
After getting to know the locals and how they feel. I feel that this a move in the right direction. Hawaiians deserve to have their home back, and yes I foresee economic issues coming down the line.
But those economic stresses might finally force the corrupted Hawaiian government to focus more on it’s own people instead of the tourist.
Suggesting tourists stay away from these listed areas is quite ludicrous but not totally unexpected. “Local Input” weighed heavily on the lists, tourists will visit these area more now that there’s a list, ^5 Way To Go! Maybe the Legislature should shut down the Travel Bureau, open up a dozen soft serve ice cream stands at those areas and make money!
I lived on Oahu for 16 yrs because of the military, 1970-1986, been back 25 times. The islands were home to me,my 4 children graduated from Radford High School. I worked for a physician on King St and loved my patients and learned their direct languages. Hawaii was/is a remarkable place,but a lot of the blame belongs to Hawaii Visitors Bureau for dismantling Waikiki for instance for instance. Now only foreigners can afford to shop and eat there. Homeless people is the fault of allowing Japanese rich to offer residents a million dollars for their homes, but they couldn’t find a place to live and the big Ohana was in the streets. Hawaii is Paradise to me,I love the culture and most of all the people.I gave my 33 yr old son a Hawaiian name..K
Aloha,
May I please have answers to my questions below from Ma’ema’e.
Where on the Big Island would you recommend for someone who wishes to visit?
What year would Hawaii be more recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic and related issues for residents, and be open to someone visiting from the mainland?
I do hope there is more done, by your legislature, for reparations for native Hawaiians, before colonial times. May you find a kind balance with the lands and seas of the islands for your residents.
I remember my visit fondly to Hilo many years ago. I would like to visit again before I pass on.
Mahalo, in advance, for an answer to my questions above.
Sincerely,
Anastasia
So what are we supposed to do? Go to Hawaii and stay in a hotel room? If you wanna see overpopulation try going to Las Vegas and driving down the strip. Don’t go to Oahu and surf waikiki. Don’t go to the North Shore and watch the banzai pipeline surf championships. Are you crazy. America is here for us to enjoy and all Americans should greet us with love and respect. Isn’t that the perfect world you are looking for?
Yes, America is for all to enjoy and respect, as you say. I wonder though, do you include your hometown and specifically your neighborhood and street as the “America“ that everyone is allowed to visit and hang out at? Not sure where you live, but I am sure that you would want nothing to do with mass influx of tourists driving up and down your street, overcrowding your hangouts, and generally changing the whole atmosphere of your hometown. Am I right?
Eldo I live in Rural America, Dirt Road and Tree Lined. Abundant Wildlife and Crisp Clean Air, however, a decade ago or there about a business opened a mile+ from me that has added to the ambiance. It draws many people, thus speeding vehicles, almost daily, nightly, year round. Do I object? No! It could be much worse. Is it degrading the roads? Yes. Taxing upon the food and water supply, Absolutely. No one has complained. Imagine that! The difference? No Politicians or Big Businesses involved in driving the area into something that it’s not, unlike Hawaii for decades.
So you don’t care about increased traffic, increased food prices and degraded water in your home town.
That’s pretty weird. Actually, it’s sad.
You are right. My small town in California got “discovered” during the pandemic because our beaches were never closed and it’s pretty much a nightmare, especially weekends. I lived on the North Shore in the 70s, went back to visit ten years again. Never again. I will respect the locals feelings and wish others would do the same where I live
Sounds like you don’t want tourists at all. Maybe we should leave our money at the airport and you could just pick it up. I have been coming to Hawaii for many years, don’t disrespect anyone or anything. But ever year the locals attitude gets nastier! I live in a tourist area in Montana and I do get it. Believe me, plenty of areas to spend my money, if I’m not welcome I’ll go elsewhere!
Why bother coming to Hawaii to see your beautiful sites when you’re discouraged from doing so by the Hawaiian government who still wants your tourist dollars.
When most Hawaiians need to work 3 jobs in order to live there, this is not the place for me. I visited in March 2021 and Oahu is pretty, but also a disappointment. The amount of homelessness is astonishing. Keep writing articles like this and Hawaiians will need to work even more.
We just got back from 8 days on Oahu. We went to alot of beautiful places. Don’t worry locals, we won’t be back. The cost of staying there assures us we won’t be coming back.
I have to laugh at the following statement… HTA says that “Our home has often been misrepresented or inaccurately portrayed through the use of incorrect information, spelling errors, and inappropriate imagery”. Did anyone else catch the spelling error in the sixth word in this article, (announed)??
I love Oahu, we’ve been coming for years. We try to be respectful and polite to the environment and all people we come in contact with (we are aware we are being welcomed to their home). My concern is that this will discourage travel to the islands. Tourism and tourism dollars are the main industry and I’m afraid what it would do to the economy?
If you want to see what Hawaii would be like without tourists, just visit the (Un)Friendly Island of Molokai and be treated to locals on welfare drinking beer and giving the stink-eye to anyone they don’t recognize.
Isn’t that the truth? I have never felt so unwelcome anywhere.
Too bad Aloha is disappearing.. Seems like visitors shouldn’t go anywhere.. The island beauty is now only for residents?? Come on folks, we need the tourism business…
Who is surprised this is the turn the Board has taken. Aloha is gone it seems. Maybe tourists can tour the junked cars, abandoned appliances and rail pillars with no tracks. Or maybe tourists would enjoy a real Hawaii show by attending a City Council meeting where much of the crazy taxes they pay really go to. Time for locals to get over themselves. Hawaii needs the tax dollars. Or would you prefer to triple your state property taxes?
A true mess and it’s showing the world how disconnected the board is and what its doing with taxpayers monies.
How true your words are. Somehow it is always the tourists disrespecting the land. They never mention the broken down cars, overgrown yards, abandoned appliances etc. etc. You can see it all when you are driving through the neighborhood on your way to Hana.
This is right on point. Always easy to point the finger elsewhere.
Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono The state’s moto rings true here. The feelings of righteousness for the aina will be severely diminished if current HTA recommendations continue. Listen to local folks… It’s their home.
I lived on Oahu for 16 yrs and never wanted to leave, military. I’ve been back 25 times, last one 2018 and was stunned at the change of Waikiki. There was International Market Place across from Dukes statue on Waikiki. Locals, tourists,there was something for everyone, it now looks like Rodeo Drive. Drove the Locals out. 70s/80s Locals lived on beaches,Ohana’s,family, together. Visitors Bureau told me”they were revitalizing Waikiki for conventions and the Japanese”. I only cared about the local people, they were my patients and friends.
Excellent list. I’ve been coming to Hawaii for 30+ years and have visited most of those spots, but I’ll be sure to visit anywhere on the list I haven’t been to yet. At least I saw most of them. Thanks, HTA!
I’ve spent many years living part time on Oahu. Without tourism, HI will fail. Tourists can’t visit the most beautiful spots in the state? So why bother to visit at all? And it’s far too expensive a place to visit now. Only for the rich and elite. HI has done everything they can to attract them. Do the rich control the gov’t? Destroy parts of Honolulu to build condos, that obviously Hawaiians can’t afford to live in. So the rich can visit as long as they don’t go outside their condos. HI should wonder why it wasted billions of $$ on a monorail to nowhere, while its people have to work 2 and 3 jobs to survive. Tourism money isn’t getting to where it needs to go. So what happens when tourism declines? HI people will be left with nothing.
The HTA is not being realistic or professional in developing the economy of Hawaii.
Hawaii is no longer competitive with other vacation destinations. The Yen exchange rate is not the primary reason Hawaii is no longer high on the list for Japanese to vacation. There are too many other more desirable options.
This sounds nice….however I was living in Kauai in the 90s and partied with 100 percent Hawaiians from Niihauu ..we were up in mountain park with ponds they were swimming in and passing around a bottle of vodka then when finish drinking they threw the bottle in the bushes..littering..I’ve seen locals throw candy wrappers on the ground… don’t be hypocrite
Not sure if satirical. Waiting Valley, sure thats been discussed in recent years, but Ali’i Drive!?
As I read this, I am very concerned for our state’s economy and the businesses that depend on tourist. As an example, Oahu has Haleiwa listed. Majority of the businesses in the town will not survive without tourist visiting. Would our state prefer more homelessness or our next generation to leave the islands for jobs because there is nothing here? Our state needs to appropriate funds to maintain high traffic areas instead of wasting more and more funds for a rail that just does practice runs all day and will be obsolete by the time we can use it. Our families who live here, including myself who is born and raised needs to accept why the beauty of our islands attracts so many and understand that makes up a big portion of our islands survival
The tourism industry is notorious for not pay a Living Wage. When will that be addressed by all these boards and organizations?
So don’t come to Hawaii…I’m sure there are valid reasons and arguments to temper traffic through these areas…however who this will impact the most is the small businesses…most of whom depend on tourists.
These lists should be linked to every known travel website available!! Tourism and this horrid influx of new residents who consider themselves “locals” have all but destroyed Kauai!! It has to stop before aloha is lost forever!!
I thought the crazies were taking over when I left 7 years ago. Now I’m sure!
I hope that the residents of the State are willing to find some kind of way to limit the animosity. I can understand the frustration with the onslaught of tourists. It must feel like being invaded by aliens, which truly, they are. I did my best to educate myself before my first trip last year and was overwhelmed by the beauty of a place that felt like I was in a dream rather than someplace in the USA. Hawaii had a year with no tourism and suffered … and now says it’s suffering again under the burden of the return of tourism. So what is the solution ? The only thing that comes to my mind is restrictions again … it’s only a matter of how restrictive do you want to be …
Lanai is part of the County of Maui
I hope I don’t sound too dumb here, but after shutting down completely for about a year to just about all tourism and experiencing record unemployment, they are now upset that tourism has come back to numbers not seen since before the Pandemic, this is a very bad thing ??!!. So, here’s a solution, shut the state down again. Implement restrictions again (no vaccine, no entrance … that should keep half the tourists away, easily.)…start limiting the number of flights to and from the state, instead of allowing more flights, cut them. Bankrupt Hawaiian Airlines. There are ways to get what they want. They’ve had it happen already. I would be interested to see what kind of adjustments they would make with little to no tourism again.
Good morning.My name is David White and I recently traveled to Waikiki beach. February 11th thru 15th. I did not like Waikiki beach. It’s over crowded and expensive.
Thank you for your information.
Thank you for bringing this important issue to the public. My husband and I are regular visitors to Hawaii. We are always respectful of the locals and their culture. We always tread lightly on the land and in the water. We also support limiting access to certain areas that are being over used. On our last trip to Kauai we were more than happy wait our turn to reserve entrance to, park in the offsite reserved parking area, take the bus and to pay the money to go Kee beach and the Nepali coast. During the lockdowns from Covid despite the heavy financial costs of reduced tourism, our Island friends waxed poetic about how nice it was to have the burden of too many tourists gone so that the local environment had a chance to recover.
The pandemic was marvelous!
Yes!! Let’s do that again!
Hawaii is part of the United States. If these changes happen, it should not apply to U.S. citizens. It sounds like Hawaii is trying to become an independent country again and not alow visitors.
I agree! I lived in Hawaii for over 30 years. I despise tourist traps. You can only experience the true Hawaii from the locals. Respect the aina and culture while you visit.
Wow that is quite a long list. I love Hawaii I come about every 8 years. I’ve been saving to come for my 60th maybe last time. While I understand the issue and have respected the weekends and stayed close to condo, some places on the list I haven’t been to an would love to visit. Feeling very unwelcomed
So pretty much saying, visitors not welcome anywhere. I just returned from a trip to Oahu Kauai and Hawaii. While the landscape is beautiful and the trails are amazing, the trip was tainted by the overwhelming apparent income difference. The amount of homeless was astounding. The “campgrounds” were just a pavilion on a beach. The campgrounds were advertised on websites as full facilities, they were anything but.
In the 70s and 80s, the homeless on the beaches were Ohana’s(family), part because of cost, but they loved the ocean,mainly N.Shore, Waianae, Waimanalo. Now the cost is astronomical
My best friend lives in Waianae, bought a tiny house, wants to leave and can’t afford to move.
Hawaii is the heart of the world. Heart failure is the number one cause of death. Hawaii has been having a heart attack for a long time. “So long ago as if it were a dream “…….. There is No stopping the humanity of it all.
I have visited all of the listed Islands in this article, but Hawaii is where I have property and am most familiar with. Two thougts, 1. How do local businesses feel about not having tourists on Alli drive? 2. Green sand beach was a isolated destination until locals began giving car rides to the beach for money. They wait for tourists at the top of the highway. This has greatly increased the usage and access to Green Sands. Same goes for the Captain Cook monument and accessing it from the dock. No need to reply, just bringing the role of locals trying to make money off tourism into the conversation and how much the local workers contribute to over access
Hmm… Well then, what are we supposed to do when visiting Hawaii? Rent an airbnb in the middle of nowhere and just sit there the entire time? I can understand the concept of trying to mitigate the crowds, but it seems like the list includes every single place on all the islands. Even rural locations that hardly nobody visits. This is very discouraging.
The list is disappointing as all our favorite spots on Kauai and Oahu are on it. We visited 30 years ago and I used what I learned to teach my students about the beauty, culture, language, land, and waters of the islands. We wanted to return to see more of the islands and visit relatives, but life intervened.
Are You Crazy⁉️⁉️ Unbelievable‼️‼️😡
Plenty of other places to roam & travel ALL over the globe….Sounds to me like the goose that laid the golden egg has just about died in Hawaii….Wow‼️‼️😵💫
Your new Governor should request the HTA to resign. How indignant! How about implementing the 33% tax. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Once government implements a tax then they won’t get rid of it, so guess who will pay for it, the so called locals. See how well they’d like that. Be careful what you wish for! You nsy just get it. Oh, by the way, the Asians spend 3 times what us the msinlanders do. So maybe that should be your next marketing ploy!
Despite the disrespectful tone of your rant (“so-called locals”??) there is a kernel of truth in what you write. The Asian market, specifically tourists from Japan, is “high spending,” nearly disappeared during the pandemic, and hasn’t returned. You can bet your horse on there being a huge strategic effort by the State of Hawaii to woo the Japanese tourist back. Personally, I’d rather see more Japanese here on Maui: they spend more $$ and are much more respectful and much less boisterous and entitled than their US mainland counterparts. Just my observation…
And the homeless issue impacting areas.