Have we killed the golden goose? Now something other than Hawaii travel will help boost the economy.
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Have we killed the golden goose? Now something other than Hawaii travel will help boost the economy.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Big time anti tourist sentiment from Hawaii. Massive taxes, expensive lodging and zero local investment in popular beach restrooms. It’s unfortunate that the vibe to tourists is not welcoming.
Travelling from Calgary, we’ve been visiting Hawaii for 12 years (going again in a month). We’ve never felt not welcomed, and it’s a piece of paradise that we feel more comfortable in then more affordable places in the Caribbean. However, we half noticed an increase in the cost to visit, and unfortunately this might be our last trip for a while. We value the short term condo rentals, and have zero interest in staying in a hotel – it’s one of the big advantages to us visiting Hawaii over other locations. We definitely don’t mind paying a fair share of taxes while there to help support the islands – just like we would in any location we travel to. But at some point, it just stops making sense. Hope Hawaii finds a balance that works.
Hawaii is run by a bunch of morons who are overtaxing tourists. Just came by myself and I will never return to Hawaii. Much cheaper options out there. The party is over for Hawaii. The locals will soon feel the economic pain when tourism drastically decreases
It sounds like the long term and somewhat hidden concerns are becoming more visible which is a big step. Hopefully the government will not get in the way too much. If tourism is slowing then real estate investors may pull back, taking pressure off of the high real estate costs. That being said, money is attracted to exclusivity so costs may not go down and could continue to rise. Controlling short term rentals will help the hotel industry and the occupancy taxes they pay. Lower levels of tourism will make the island much more enjoyable for everyone and help HI’s ecosystem.
The question is what will the gov do when there are no tourists to pay his increased hotel fees? And someone was correct to point out that they think someone is going to pay 700 a night plus 22% is more than a STR cost or whatever number he spits out…since there is no way to determine how much to increase it by when you are trying to fund a budget on imaginary guests or non existent guests And owners sell or are foreclosed on? And the values fall? Now the RE taxes will go down also…and yes where has the extra taxes they just imposed …4% just into the air…no accountability at all. So it is very apparent that they are just not very far sighted or Smart to think this is the answer. We can see where this is headed…why don’t they?
Okay, is it just me? Does anyone else see the conflict of interest below:
The push-back against vacation rentals is widespread. Joining the governor is the Hawaii Tourism Authority chair, Mufi Hannemann, who’s also head of the hotel industry’s Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association (HLTA).
Hotels first tried to impose a 90-day minimum stay on short-term rentals and now they are trying to eliminate short-term rentals. Even though guests prefer them to be able to cook and keep their vacations reasonably priced. So, with short-term rentals eliminated, visitors will be hostages to even higher rates from the hotels….and Hawaii is wondering why tourism is down. Really?
We live on the east side of Big Island and like to vacation on Kauai in a stvr. We can no longer afford to go there because of the huge price increases so started to just go to the other side of B.I. It’s now getting so expensive to stay even a few days in a stvr. there that we will have to settle for staycations at home!
It was mentioned in an earlier comment that there are many local people that have stv rentals as a way to make extra money to be able to stay here on island. If these rentals are eliminated some will be forced to sell out and move to the mainland. Not a choice they will willingly make.
My wife and I have been traveling to the islands for over 25 years and have always respected and learned from the Hawaiian culture. This year is our 50th anniversary and may be our last trip due to the high cost of accommodations and rental cars. What’s happening will surely persuade people to go elsewhere, which is sad.
Be sure to take into account a greatly increased cost of food, both restaurant and store-bought. In early Feb the cost of breakfast at McDonald’s on Maui was $61.00 and the cost of lunch at Monkeypod in Whaler’s Village (which included 2 hamburgers and no alcohol along with other things) for 4 people was $177.00. Maui is just not the same without Lahaina. It was our 18th trip since being married at Secret Beach (Makena) in 1999, and was also our last. I wish the locals with whom we’ve come to know and love, well. Mahalo for the memories.
Wow. The restaurant costs you quote are eye opening.
Our CAD exchange rate is running $1.37/$1 USD, yikes.
I sincerely hope you rebuild + enjoy your new economy.
My tourism dollars will go elsewhere where we are welcomed.
Hawaii too expensive. Mexico friendly and better value all around
So what to do. 3 weeks paid for and planned on Maui in May. Our last trip more than likely as we are 80.
These articles have me feeling less than welcome. So do I get my deposit back or pour thousands more in a place where we may not be welcome. Just don’t know…
Go. By all means, go. In the many years we’ve been going to Hawaii, mostly Kauai, we have never experienced any hostility from Hawaiian residents. Experience the culture, in fact dive into it. Yes, it’s expensive, but if you have already taken that into consideration and allowed for it, go enjoy yourselves. Do Hawaiian things, wear the leis, go to luau’s, eat Hawaiian food, especially the local produce. And have fun.
We just returned from Maui on Sunday. You shouldn’t worry. It was my first time with my husband. Everyone we interacted with was fantastic and welcoming. We stayed in a great condo with ab ocean view in Kihei on Sugar Beach.
Go and enjoy yourselves.
I’ve spent many years in Hawaii as a resident and since moving back to the Mainland, visited quite a bit. Have never had any issues with locals and don’t expect them to kiss my butt because I’m a visitor now. But, I’ve done my last trip to the islands. I don’t mind spending money (ask my wife) but I do mind overspending and not getting a big bang for my buck. Today’s Hawaii is mediocre at best, and a ripoff at worst. And now, the fools who work for the government there are talking about increasing fees and taxes on the backs of the tourists who have already spent a fortune on airfare and a hotel room. It won’t be long til they install meters on toilets and charge you for every flush.
We have been coming to the Hawaiian Islands for 50 years, mostly to Maui as we own few timeshare weeks there. Our vacations there with family and friends have been a highlight of our lives.
We sympathize with those who have lost family, friends and property in the recent fire. And similarly we sympathize with all of Hawaii for the lack of leadership, clear thinking and clear communication throughout the recovery. From our limited mainland perspective it has been abysmal. It is all just sad.
Campfire victim with a little insight with disposal of fire waste, rebuilding process & economic impact of both.
Disposal is a very slow process truck loads must be covered as not to spread toxic waste it took over 2 years to clear all the waste from Paradise.
Rebuilding will be very frustrating on Maui there’s a shortage of contractors & skilled labor, plus infrastructure must be replaced before any building will start. Money talks those with cash will go to the top of the list.
Economic impact will be slow in the beginning once building starts you can expect many years positive growth to Maui’s economy.
Aloha Jeff and Rob. Your article about tourism makes several good points. I must admit the fees, charges, appointments, etc are a put off, but might be palatable if it wasn’t so “in your face tourist!” I had a great experience, but others talk about not feeling welcome. I didn’t feel the tourist inquiry on the plane was appropriate. Hindsight says that’s probably how it’s always been done. However there is a lot more to be learned from an exit interview. Perhaps most people are pleased. It might bring out things that Hawai’i could do better rather than blame the “golden goose” for everything. This is my opinion, and thank you for giving me the forum to express it. Mahalo,
If those in the government don’t want tourists anymore, why did they just approve permits to build a huge development of upscale condos, homes, retail and restaurants in Kapalua????
Hawaii solution is always to tax the visitors more and more. Eventually you will push them away. Hey they are of course the reason Hawaii has so many problems. It can all be blamed on visitors. I’m sure they can be blamed for trashy parks, non existent sidewalks, crummy roads, and all the burnt out cars left by the side of the road. Maybe it’s the visitors fault that local governments allow regular homes to be on vrbo. Those rascal visitors. Well the way the sediment is going they shouldn’t be much of a problem soon.
I recently sold my vacation rental condo which was also my second home in Kauai. I plan on still visiting Kauai and would prefer to stay in a condo. Is the goal to eliminate those completely? Is that even legal?
One word “Okinawa.” Google it, check out the photos, weather, VRBO prices and even airfare. Never look back again.
Patrick Okinawa does look beautiful.
I do wonder about radiation of the water though. Given during that earthquake and the nuclear reactor leaked tons of radiation waste into the ocean.
As a resident of Maui many years ago and now a second home owner there, my opinion is that Maui cannot survive without short term rentals. Many more families travel to Maui than in years past and they depend on short term rentals for more room and kitchen than a hotel room offers. There is no way hotels on Maui could accommodate the travelers that it needs to come and spend money to support the people.
So, in a nutshell, the various levels of Government are going to join the hotels, restaurants, car rentals etc. in gouging tourists by way of excess taxation. With all the facilities etc. that the government is responsible for maintaining now falling into disrepair, one has to wonder where the tax money from the last decades has gone. Hawaii is well on the way to becoming a destination for fewer, but wealthier tourists. Be careful what you wish for.
Hey they don’t want to ever follow the money. That would expose the outright corruption. Never has so much money been collected per capita for such third world infrastructure and local amenities. Everything nice is privately owned. The natural beauty, thanks to God, is great but anything publicly provided is 3rd world.
The reason tourism is down is because of sky high prices, especially lodging and food.
I have been going to Hawaii for 40 years but recently went to Costa Rica and Mexico and got a lot bigger bang for the buck.
In addition Hawaii is now nickel and diming all visitors.
An entrance fee, pay to.psrk at the beach, pay to get on the beach, etc.
Until prices come down to a reasonable level, I’m staying aeay
Our past 8 trips to Hawaii, with and without our well-behaved, eco friendly children, had become increasingly fraught with hostility from “locals”.
We stayed in hotels or real vacation condos. We learned, we listened, we did not cross kapu.
And I typically sent back 10-15 “if it fits it ships” USPS boxes with local-made gifts and groceries.
We had a trip planned and paid for at pandemic’s start. Got a refund, was bluntly told “do not come, we won’t have groceries”.
Then I started reading how Hawaii only wanted fancy tourists who stayed on resort land only.
We miss Hawaii terribly. But the “stink eye” we got, and the comments about wearing aloha clothes as “white tourists” were the last straw.
Good luck, State of Hawaii.
Hello I am writing in hope that you will research the whale and her baby that decided to hang around the working boat dock. The statement was published a week ago with concern for the baby whale possibly being injured.
A whale watcher.
Do we know if the new fee will apply to those visiting family? My brother lives there and even with a couch to sleep on and a car to use the flights alone are insane. The last time we went we had a terrible time with service and rudeness and we weren’t even technically “tourists”, just visiting family. We just meet somewhere in the mainland. If you get rid of cheaper rentals you are only going to cater to the extremely wealthy and they don’t have a great track record of “respect” for the land or the culture.
The Islands of Hawaii and all those who complain about us tourists, deserve to have a major reduction in tourism over the next few years to see if they can survive and do without the millions and millions of dollars hard working citizens of the mainland have pumped into the state. Get on your kneees and plead!
Hawai’i will be fine without a few hundred thousand visitors a year. Changes will be made and certain sacrifices will be made, but we’ll be fine.
Hope your not depending on government hand outs or the mainland people that donated to the fires quickly that money is going to run out y’all have blown the Goodwill of the families on the mainland.
I’m still going to vote for the primary reason tourism is slowing down along with spending is primarily influenced by one thing: The sheer cost of a vacation in the islands. Consumers are already “back against the wall” which is reflected by the clifflike drop off in credit card usage last month. Dec seems to have been the “last hurrah” for consumers. They’re maxed out. The tourism drop in Hawaii is just indicative of the fact.
Just an anecdote. Nice young family I know – 3 kids, husband owns a local business, wife’s a teacher’s aide, they had asked me some questions about Hawaii for a family vacation. They decided not to go – it would have cost them almost 20K. They went to Disneyworld instead – still cost them 12K
My family and I have been to Hawaii many times over a 20 year period. We have never had a problem with locals, so it does break my heart to hear tourists are not welcome. Unfortunately there will always be Horrible tourists where ever you go, but I hope most people are there for a love of the land and it’s people. What cracks me up is every time we are in Hawaii, there is a news article about a corrupt government official! Every time!!! So my worry is the increase in fees and taxes will NOT go to those who need it, but rather another corrupt official.
We’ve been priced out of Hawaii, from the price of accommodations to fees to taxes to groceries to gasoline to rental cars we are now living beyond our healthy travel budget. This is our last year. As Snowbirds we spent 2 months every winter on either Kauai, Maui, or Hawaii. We would recommend more attention to environmental issues, recycling, renewable energy, local agricultural efforts.
Now you know how the Hawaiians and the true kama’aina feel, being priced out of their homeland, by snowbirds, who don’t want to leave.
“True kamaina ” I’d love to hear your definition of that
Vee K
That happens in every state in the USA
People visit and some decide to move to that state.
Fortunately, we can do that.
I saw a Visit Maui commercial on a Vancouver, BC Canada TV channel recently. I am now confused.
The messaging from the state lately has been:
• not to visit Maui as it is oversaturated with visitors
• only good quality tourists should visit (Canadians named specifically, some of us aren’t apparently)
• renting a STVR is not suggested as it disrupts housing for locals, plus
• hugely increased fees and taxes aimed at tourists (costs to go to a beach included)
But a TV commercial marketing Maui? Now? Which is it?
While everyone was friendly and welcoming when we visited Kahana for 2 1/2 weeks last month, the cost of everything is many times more than it has ever been. Accommodations, air fares, food, gas, entertainment and even tacky souvenirs have all increased significantly. The most distressing however is that 7 months later very very little has been done for cleanup and we were told by locals that the Hawaiian government and Maui government are not working together for a solution. They also have many questions as to where all of the hundreds of thousands of dollars donated are actually going. After going to Hawaii / Maui for 40 years I don’t think will be going back.
Seems to me that short term rentals are a small percentage of the housing numbers so them being in the cross – hairs of the Governor is a bit surprising !? I guess 18 % tax on a $600 hotel room is better than the tax on a $200 short term rental ? Also no surprise that the head of Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Assoc ( Mufi Hannemann ) is on-board with the demise of sort term rentals given that it may push visitors to her associations $600 + hotel rooms as their only alternative … unfortunately, that’s not gonna happen.
I am concerned about “phasing out” short term rentals. The condos I’ve stayed in on Maui (for50years)are studios. They are on the beach and cost half of the hotels with a peek at the water. I love watching the whales and being close to the beach. If I am forced to pay double, have a bad view, pay for parking, resort fee and taxes, well that’s too much! I love Hawaii. However, paying luxury costs for less isn’t encouraging me to be a repeat visitor. I know this is a complex issue. Big cities deal with this as costs rise. Workers, teachers, firefighters are priced out of cities that become expensive. In Hawaii there are no suburbs for them to go to! My friends are no longer choosing Hawaii to visit. I’m not ready to do that, yet.
With all of the taxes the state has collected over the years from tourism…. (which is one of the highest in the nation) why have they not addressed the infrastructure? What are they doing with all of the money?
What I don’t see anyone saying out loud is that for those of us that live here and own, our low property taxes are effectively subsidized by the rest of the high STR taxes and TAT. The Governor will immediately lose constituent support if we see an increase. The answer every day going forward will continue to be – “why is Hawai’i waiting to diversify its revenue?” This needs to happen now. The irony of the rail is we couldn’t called on expertise in Japan to build it in less time and less cost, yet – we didn’t. We continue to fail over selves and never think beyond our own noses.
Aloha.
Speaking of subsidies, here are the updated rates for Maui County in 2023/2024.
Owner Occupied
Tier 1: up to $1,000,000 Formerly $2.00 now $1.90
Tier 2: $1,000,001 to $3,000,000 Formerly $2.10 now $2.00
Tier 3: more than $3,000,000 Formerly $2.71 now $2.75
Non Owner Occupied
Tier 1: up to $1,000,000 Unchanged $5.85
Tier 2: $1,000,001 to $4,500,000 Unchanged $8.00
Tier 3: more than $4,500,000 Unchanged $12.50
Short-Term Rental
Tier 1: up to $1,000,000 Unchanged $11.85
Tier 2: $1,000,001 to $3,000,000 Unchanged $11.85
Tier 3: more than $3,000,000 Unchanged $11.85
Mahalo
Aloha,
For clarity I should have added the tax rates are per $1000 of assessed value.
Mahalo
Well… you get what you vote for!
I think officials of Hawaii should really rethink these measures. I love Hawaii and always have from my first visit over thirty years ago. But the ever increasing costs, hotels and restaurants which are out of sight. I am going to look for alternative locations for future vacations. My feeling is with all costs going sky high, many tourists will start to look elsewhere. By the way, I have not experienced any ill will from residents.
We just spent 12 beautiful days in Kahana, Maui. We were greeted everywhere we went with large Aloha! We saw no evidence of anti-tourist sentiment. It is so disheartening to see a government mismanages money and then go after those who are a little more savey (short term renter owners). Some one in government needs to understand money and business and how to manage what you have and use it to everyone’s benefit, locals and visitors a like. Such a sad state for my our favorite vacation location. looking for new “Go To”.
Since I am planning a first time trip to Oahu in June, I have become aware of these problems and it has made me wonder if Hawaii is where I should go or if I should wait and see if things get better. The airport situation and the increase in homelessness really has me concerned.
We were to Kauai last year and were told (and witnessed) by several locals that California has shipped a large amount of their homeless to Kauai. Pretty sad.
Puerto Rico is a lovely place to visit. We have been several times. Don’t even need a passport. Also, the American Virgin Islands are lovely. Just a thought.
Thanks for keeping us up to date on these issues. Accommodation taxes in Hawaii are already very high and an increase will not help Hawaii attract return visitors. I wouldn’t mind paying a $25 impact fee if I thought it would actually go to things like wildfire abatement etc. but I have my doubts about that. We visit several times a year to spend time with family, but the prices, taxes, fees etc, etc. all take a toll on our enthusiasm for a visit.
Locals and politicians made it clear we weren’t welcome in Hawaii. We as visitors got tired of being looked at as dollar signs and treated like garbage. We have moved on, ever since the liberal and unwelcoming attitude during Covid, we have spent our free time and money elsewhere where people are more welcoming and appreciative. Good luck finding a replacement for tourist dollars, I don’t think fruit or AG will replace the money either. Hawaii needs a fundamental political overhaul and an attitude adjustment about visitors. Maybe the tourism bust will be a good lesson and end up saving Hawaii in the end when people make the needed changes.
Love Hawaii and its people. We have and will continue to visit. However the reading of problems seem largely linked to poor infrastructure planning and upgrade. Be it local or tourists that use this it is required. Cutting back on tourists seems like a to shoot oneself in the foot solution.