93 thoughts on “Hawaii Panics. Not Enough Tourists. Diversification Never Happened.”
Richard C
Due to just returning home from Maui I’m a little late to this party
When you’re confronted with some one telling you on Hawaii a service or resort is at full capacity it’s usually a staffing issue.
On Maui we were very fortunate that we caught the bottom of tourist arrivals.
Week days there was no wait time at some of Wailea’s most popular restaurants MonkeyPod, DUO & HumuHumu. When we went to Mama’s on a Monday they were able to seat a few parties with no reservations, but at Fleetwoods on Saturday there was a 2 hour wait.
Lahaina was popping lots of tourist.
For us the food was excellent on Maui we didn’t have one bad meal. Staff at resort, restaurants and shopping were all very friendly and helpful.
Imagine all of those Hawaiians that are feeling Wonderful and reveling in their calculated attacks on Tourists. They wanted tourists to stop coming and now they are succeeding or is it a temporary correction or lull, only time will tell. Be Happy in the fact that the efforts will damage the lives of many people, you’re the reason, but the Beaches will be much less crowded with tourists. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
Clearly, there were a Lot if people who could afford those prices since, as the article says, the islands were flooded with tourists to the point that the residents were complaining. I think I mentioned before, one of the ways that at least some in Hawaii have suggested to move forward was to have fewer “richer” visitors. Therefore, I think that allowing greed to take over with the hotels, rental cars, etc. and simply looking the other way was one way to “thin the herd”.
$400 per night is cheap now. You are looking at $600-$1800 per night for anything decent. Prices are inflated to make up for the time they were closed. If you pay it, they will charge it. Stop paying it!
Just got back from 14 days in Princeville, Kauai. It was a great vacation. But here are some things I noticed that were very curious.
– Everyone at any hotel told us that they are ‘fully booked’. Many other services told us that everything was booked. Yet it was not problem to find space or tables or parking.
– Small businesses and workers are under severe economic duress. Many waiters are complaining about living costs. Many small businesses are closed. The stress is palpable, natives are not happy.
– Food quality and food offerings are generally subpar and very limited. There is an endless supply of wraps, sandwiches, pizza and other high carb, very low cost food. It is very difficult to find higher quality food for diabetics.
It doesn’t sound like any actual residents were interviewed for this article. Certainly not on Maui.
Majority of residents I know would welcome with open arms to have a reprieve from the constant hoards of visitors we have been experiencing. They are everywhere, at our beach parks, restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies (because they’re sick), driving aimlessly through
neighborhoods, causing increased traffic. Just this week the traffic with rental cars have been horrible. We are not being affected by too little tourism, just the opposite. Perhaps the corporations and our greedy corrupt politicians want more more more, but it’s destroying the land, culture, and quality of life.
The millions and millions of dollars those nasty tourists leave in Maui could be supporting the land, culture, and quality of life. If it’s not, its an issue you should be taking up with Maui County government.
The visitor taxes are supposedly funneled into various funds supporting the land, culture, and quality of life. But the council now wants to raise the rates and fees on visitors even more, as well as raise the property taxes on hotels, short-term rentals, and timeshares, who already pay 4-5 times more in property taxes as residents.
Hawaii being enmeshed in a ‘One Party System’, seems not to grasp the old idiom of “The goose that laid the golden egg”, possibly they don’t understand the concept of the United States and they are receiving benefits from the ‘Whole’, that they would not be able to enjoy in their pre-1959 world. Possibly placing an Excise or VAT Tax on all Hawaiian Residents exclusively that travel to the Mainland, would help them understand the concept! I cannot help but think, that moving away from the Hawaiian Tourist Bureau, for all their shortcomings and going to Academia, will be anything less then we see on the Mainland, with division.
I saw Hawaii News today and heard LT. Gov. Green recommend imposing a $50. fee(tax) for visitors.
(Not too long ago they added a 3% tax for visitors.).
I visit friends and extended Ohana twice a year in Hawaii, usually for 16 nights each trip. If he imposes the fee, although $50 is not so significant, I’ll protest it by cutting each trip by one day which will save me over $50 a day in Hawaii taxes. In addition I’ll be saving money by cutting one night in a hotel, and cutting one day for a rented car, etc. A 15 day visit will work fine for me.
Hawaii is pricing itself out of the market, “On Kauai, hotels were busy, with rates up 46% to an average of $415 per night”. I used to visit every year sometimes 2x a year. I like to stay at least 2 weeks, as 1 week is not enough. But now at these prices, I will not be coming for a long time.
Patti G., we totally agree. Being “post covid” is just an excuse to jack up the prices and recoup the money they lost while “their Governor” shut down “their State”. They figure they will use the term “covid” until hades freezes over, or until people finally get smart and stop coming! Looks like they are finally getting smart!
I seem to recall that one of the responses to the “too many tourists” issue was the idea of reducing the number of “margin hunting” tourists and focus more on fewer tourists who are willing to spend more money. I wonder if part of these price increases are a part of that approach.
Absolutely, these price increases are part of that approach, and the county council is very direct in stating it. “Quality, not quantity” is their motto, which is often proclaimed publicly in their meetings.
Exactly. We had a condo res for Maui next spring but canceled. Airfare and car rentals are priced far too high. We love Maui but not at this cost. Ended up booking a trip on the mainland for the same time period and well less than half the price. Now, I don’t know what percentage of residents don’t want us here, but if a minority, they’re certainly the loudest. Our last trip there (in 2018) could well turn out to be our final trip there. Sad, but it’s the reality. Tired of this “tourists are the problem” garbage.
Hawaii is retreating from the “revenge” travel that boosted numbers to near pre pandemic levels without international traffic.
Now international is about to return and I suspect a healthy balance of mainland and international tourists will be the case. I would think a lot of future growth will be from new international destinations, which I suspect is why Hawaiian has made such a commitment to the Dreamliner.
Do agree that lack of diversification is a problem, always has been. It’s not cheap or easy establishing a new industry in the middle of the Pacific
Maui has recently approved moving forward with charging anyone without a Hawaiian drivers license paid parking at all the maui county beaches. Of course it will take time to convert the parking lots to the paid parking plan, but it seems the timing is pretty bad, just as tourism is starting to decline. Locals had been complaining that they couldn’t find parking. I think there will soon be an abundance of empty spaces.
Oahu Beaches seem to have plenty of parking until the end of the day when the Locals show up to Drink, Party and Cook on Grills. From what I have seen there’s no parking problems during the day.
I really don’t think tourists will stop coming to Maui because they will have to pay for parking. Come on, they are already paying $600, 700, 800+ per night. Is another $30 going to be their breaking point? And if so, the reality is there is someone else right behind them willing to pay!
Due to just returning home from Maui I’m a little late to this party
When you’re confronted with some one telling you on Hawaii a service or resort is at full capacity it’s usually a staffing issue.
On Maui we were very fortunate that we caught the bottom of tourist arrivals.
Week days there was no wait time at some of Wailea’s most popular restaurants MonkeyPod, DUO & HumuHumu. When we went to Mama’s on a Monday they were able to seat a few parties with no reservations, but at Fleetwoods on Saturday there was a 2 hour wait.
Lahaina was popping lots of tourist.
For us the food was excellent on Maui we didn’t have one bad meal. Staff at resort, restaurants and shopping were all very friendly and helpful.
Imagine all of those Hawaiians that are feeling Wonderful and reveling in their calculated attacks on Tourists. They wanted tourists to stop coming and now they are succeeding or is it a temporary correction or lull, only time will tell. Be Happy in the fact that the efforts will damage the lives of many people, you’re the reason, but the Beaches will be much less crowded with tourists. It will be interesting to see how this evolves.
Who can afford $400.00 a night? No wonder there are a fewer tourists. Lower the room rates and maybe I will visit.
$400 a night? I would wonder why it is that cheap. That amount is probably how much the rooms have increased.
Clearly, there were a Lot if people who could afford those prices since, as the article says, the islands were flooded with tourists to the point that the residents were complaining. I think I mentioned before, one of the ways that at least some in Hawaii have suggested to move forward was to have fewer “richer” visitors. Therefore, I think that allowing greed to take over with the hotels, rental cars, etc. and simply looking the other way was one way to “thin the herd”.
$400 per night is cheap now. You are looking at $600-$1800 per night for anything decent. Prices are inflated to make up for the time they were closed. If you pay it, they will charge it. Stop paying it!
Just got back from 14 days in Princeville, Kauai. It was a great vacation. But here are some things I noticed that were very curious.
– Everyone at any hotel told us that they are ‘fully booked’. Many other services told us that everything was booked. Yet it was not problem to find space or tables or parking.
– Small businesses and workers are under severe economic duress. Many waiters are complaining about living costs. Many small businesses are closed. The stress is palpable, natives are not happy.
– Food quality and food offerings are generally subpar and very limited. There is an endless supply of wraps, sandwiches, pizza and other high carb, very low cost food. It is very difficult to find higher quality food for diabetics.
It doesn’t sound like any actual residents were interviewed for this article. Certainly not on Maui.
Majority of residents I know would welcome with open arms to have a reprieve from the constant hoards of visitors we have been experiencing. They are everywhere, at our beach parks, restaurants, grocery stores, pharmacies (because they’re sick), driving aimlessly through
neighborhoods, causing increased traffic. Just this week the traffic with rental cars have been horrible. We are not being affected by too little tourism, just the opposite. Perhaps the corporations and our greedy corrupt politicians want more more more, but it’s destroying the land, culture, and quality of life.
The millions and millions of dollars those nasty tourists leave in Maui could be supporting the land, culture, and quality of life. If it’s not, its an issue you should be taking up with Maui County government.
The visitor taxes are supposedly funneled into various funds supporting the land, culture, and quality of life. But the council now wants to raise the rates and fees on visitors even more, as well as raise the property taxes on hotels, short-term rentals, and timeshares, who already pay 4-5 times more in property taxes as residents.
Hawaii being enmeshed in a ‘One Party System’, seems not to grasp the old idiom of “The goose that laid the golden egg”, possibly they don’t understand the concept of the United States and they are receiving benefits from the ‘Whole’, that they would not be able to enjoy in their pre-1959 world. Possibly placing an Excise or VAT Tax on all Hawaiian Residents exclusively that travel to the Mainland, would help them understand the concept! I cannot help but think, that moving away from the Hawaiian Tourist Bureau, for all their shortcomings and going to Academia, will be anything less then we see on the Mainland, with division.
Yes! And this is supposed to be our slow season!
I saw Hawaii News today and heard LT. Gov. Green recommend imposing a $50. fee(tax) for visitors.
(Not too long ago they added a 3% tax for visitors.).
I visit friends and extended Ohana twice a year in Hawaii, usually for 16 nights each trip. If he imposes the fee, although $50 is not so significant, I’ll protest it by cutting each trip by one day which will save me over $50 a day in Hawaii taxes. In addition I’ll be saving money by cutting one night in a hotel, and cutting one day for a rented car, etc. A 15 day visit will work fine for me.
Who is panicking? This article is definitely written with a bias towards too many tourists and is not at all true.
Hawaii is pricing itself out of the market, “On Kauai, hotels were busy, with rates up 46% to an average of $415 per night”. I used to visit every year sometimes 2x a year. I like to stay at least 2 weeks, as 1 week is not enough. But now at these prices, I will not be coming for a long time.
Patti G., we totally agree. Being “post covid” is just an excuse to jack up the prices and recoup the money they lost while “their Governor” shut down “their State”. They figure they will use the term “covid” until hades freezes over, or until people finally get smart and stop coming! Looks like they are finally getting smart!
I seem to recall that one of the responses to the “too many tourists” issue was the idea of reducing the number of “margin hunting” tourists and focus more on fewer tourists who are willing to spend more money. I wonder if part of these price increases are a part of that approach.
Absolutely, these price increases are part of that approach, and the county council is very direct in stating it. “Quality, not quantity” is their motto, which is often proclaimed publicly in their meetings.
Such an elitist stance, no aloha at all.
They state that to the public and then when no one is paying attention they push exactly opposite.
Exactly. We had a condo res for Maui next spring but canceled. Airfare and car rentals are priced far too high. We love Maui but not at this cost. Ended up booking a trip on the mainland for the same time period and well less than half the price. Now, I don’t know what percentage of residents don’t want us here, but if a minority, they’re certainly the loudest. Our last trip there (in 2018) could well turn out to be our final trip there. Sad, but it’s the reality. Tired of this “tourists are the problem” garbage.
Hawaii is retreating from the “revenge” travel that boosted numbers to near pre pandemic levels without international traffic.
Now international is about to return and I suspect a healthy balance of mainland and international tourists will be the case. I would think a lot of future growth will be from new international destinations, which I suspect is why Hawaiian has made such a commitment to the Dreamliner.
Do agree that lack of diversification is a problem, always has been. It’s not cheap or easy establishing a new industry in the middle of the Pacific
Maui has recently approved moving forward with charging anyone without a Hawaiian drivers license paid parking at all the maui county beaches. Of course it will take time to convert the parking lots to the paid parking plan, but it seems the timing is pretty bad, just as tourism is starting to decline. Locals had been complaining that they couldn’t find parking. I think there will soon be an abundance of empty spaces.
Oahu Beaches seem to have plenty of parking until the end of the day when the Locals show up to Drink, Party and Cook on Grills. From what I have seen there’s no parking problems during the day.
Not true for the beaches in Kailua. My daughter lives in Kailua & there is absolutely no parking at Kailua Beach Park unless you go before 8am
I really don’t think tourists will stop coming to Maui because they will have to pay for parking. Come on, they are already paying $600, 700, 800+ per night. Is another $30 going to be their breaking point? And if so, the reality is there is someone else right behind them willing to pay!