More people are leaving Hawaii, making it difficult to fill jobs in Hawaii tourism. We all feel it, and it is getting worse.
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172 thoughts on “Hawaii Tourism Harpooned As Residents Abandon Ship”
More people are leaving Hawaii, making it difficult to fill jobs in Hawaii tourism. We all feel it, and it is getting worse.
The vocation and living cost are the same. There is no kamaina cost for the kamaina and there are other entities that absorb the kamaina funds. The pay for living here is outrageous and yet the locals find a way. It’s so expensive that families are forced to live together, it is not a choice. Wages compared to living cost staggeringly show that it’s almost impossible to make ends meet. Most apartments do not include water or electric, also food is quite expensive. Lucky you will see anything under 3,200 in living costs. Instead of feeding the pockets of the rich, we should feed the mouths of the people. Farms and wild life preservation should be at the forefront of the community, that’s the main tourist attractions. Pcc.
Aloha – Hawaii’s housing problems sound very similar to those of California. If our government would restrict corporations and foreign nationals from purchasing land and homes in the U.S., it would go a long in increasing supply and keeping prices reasonable. Doesn’t anyone wonder who actually owns all those homes in Hawaii, if it isn’t the residents?
Do you really mean corporations? Because only about 1% of homes in the US are owned by corporations. Now, if you look at it from the perspective of investors (like hedge funds, etc) vs individuals who actually live in these homes, then it’s a bit of a different story. But even there, it’s only in the neighborhood of 25%. That doesn’t sound like much, but in a lot of cases it’s the investors that are driving up the prices, thus having an impact in the market that reaches beyond their 25% share. In Hawaii the problem is even worse. When you factor in things like AirBNB, etc. the market is dominated by investors making it difficult for individual home buyers.
Hawai’i only has so much land. Simply put- You think rents are too high? Look no further than the tourist fueled air bnb industry. Hawai’i is already too crowded. Want to solve the high rent crisis? Get rid of the short term rental business.
But keep in mind that the increase in short term rentals is a symptom of the ever increasing number of tourist problem. I think there’s no simple solution to this overall problems in Hawaii. It’s a multi-faceted beast that is rooted in the fact that Hawaii is so dependent on tourism. Up to now, Hawaii has been playing whakc-a-mole. Unless a multi-faceted program gets put into place that include deemisizing tourism nothing will change.
That is not the answer. Our moron govt has already robbed people of that source of income here on Oahu. The hotel lobbyists won. Now you have the govt working Against you telling you what to do with your own property. They are only for big business.
Really? If the short term rental business does not exist, who would still go to Hawaii? They are contributing to the tourist industry and making Hawaii still attractive to tourists especially those with limited budget and family in tow. Do you think you can afford to rent one of those units if they’re shut down in order to make them available to renters like you? Consider that even on the mainland rents have soared ridiculously high everywhere–but for a lot of people that’s still the feasible solution than buying a home which is near to impossible unless you have a really thick and fat bank account. The government should focus more on housing than building more hotels in overcrowded Honolulu to favor the lobbyists rather than people in nee
STRs are most definitely a major cause of our housing issues on Maui. Buildings that housed local residents 10 years ago have now switched to STRs, local residents are left without places to live. The condos in those buildings increased in value because short term rentals were allowed. The same goes for neighborhoods where there are very little limits on short term rentals. The values have increased more than neighborhoods that do not allow short term rentals. There are far too many short term properties and far too many visitors on Maui each and every day, for what can be handled. The individuals that work are leaving and being replaced by the wealthy, retired, and part timers. It’s not worth it to work and live here anymore.
This, exactly. The tourists complain that they want the air bnb because it keeps their costs contained, then they complain about places going wanting for help. If there is no where affordable to live, and wages high enough to live and support families on, who do they think will be catering to their needs when they visit? It sure will not be the owners of the rental condos and houses serving them at restaurants, tourist sites, etc. People need to consider the impact on the residents of the places they visit, and not strictly their “rights” and “wants.”
100% agreed. So many tourists have little substantial allegiance to the places that they visit. They show up for a few days there, spend their money and then leave. The social problems of their vacation destinations don’t concern them. Witness how many comments here angrily proclaim that they’re “done with Hawaii” and “will be spending my $ elsewhere,” usually a Third World country with a massive lower class earning poverty wages. The sense of entitlement is breathtaking. “The locals should welcome us with open arms, but they don’t appreciate us! We’re outta’ here!” It’s a subtle form of cultural and class exploitation, with the main beneficiaries being the corporations. Hawaii needs to transition away from tourism ASAP.
You must be aware of the fact that people can spend their hard earned savings anywhere, regardless as to whether or not they are providing for the welfare of the indigenous population, right? Please, transition away from tourism and see how long your coveted social programs continue. Your willingness to kill the goose that keeps laying the golden eggs you take for granted will certainly degrade your quality of life.
Or perhaps without the constant barrage of tourists, quality of life will improve and make it worthwhile to live here in the land of high costs again, as demonstrated by improved quality of ocean reefs, aquatic life, and much less traffic when the pandemic was in force. But then the entitled complained our governor would not let them come, and when they could return once again, complained that our state required tests and masks, laws made to keep the resident population healthy.
I kinda doubt it. Hawaii had two years during the pandemic where this was the case…and it had the greatest exodus of residents since ever! The lack of tourist money almost bankrupted Hawaii and it’s residents. To this day, the cost of living in Hawaii increased twice as much as the cost of living on the main land! The lack of tourists in Hawaii hurt Hawaii deeper than it knows. It’s going to take years to recover from that.
According to DBEDT, your reasoning is not correct. It is a multi-faceted issue that started before the pandemic and is about jobs and money and the well-educated youth leaving. the study found that almost 15% of Hawaii-born people living on the mainland are between the ages of 18 and 44 and have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 7.7% of those remaining in Hawaii. Another finding: in sheer numbers, there are more Hawaii-born people with a bachelor’s degree or higher living on the mainland than there are who stayed in the state.
What would it take to improve the quality of life? not the quality of the environment or oceans or air but your life? If the tourists were gone, what would happen to that “quality of life” if all the tourist related jobs, meager pay as it may be, disappeared. Then what?
All? I did not call for all tourism to be gone. It does need to be greatly reduced, period. And if all the non-residents cannot own property here. And if all the people who live elsewhere would stop thinking they have the solution to problems for a place they do not live, instead they mainly take advantage of it, and complain about its politics, policies, and prices.
Building more affordable housing is the more humane and appropriate solution to the housing crisis than building more hotels which have been approved in the already congested Honolulu area. Homeowners must also be allowed to rent part of their property in order to be able to pay off their horrendous mortgage, instead of killing those rental property owners through unfair laws and outrageous fines to make way for the hotel owners to have the sole monopoly of providing accommodations for tourists.
Wages in Hawaii is too low to be able to afford anything, much less housing, which is why locals are leaving heading to more affordable states with better pay
This will be the last year we will be traveling to Hawaii. The price of everything is sky high and locals and the gov’t blaming tourists for everything leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There are many places in the world that welcome us with open arms that are much cheaper than Hawaii. I agree that the Hawaiian gov’t has been focussing solely on tourism to keep it’s economy going strong and they should diversify, they just took the easy route and now that times are tough are really nickel and diming the tourists. We work very hard and save for years for a chance to come to Hawaii but won’t visit where we’re not welcome.
Thanks for the comments. Rethinking going to Hawaii now. Not interested in visiting a place that doesn’t want company. Sad, but there are many other places to visit. Too bad, we had this on our to do list for over a decade but I guess it’s not meant to be.
Hey so us locals get hammered with all that too. It sucks for everyone so I feel you on this. I’m not native Hawaiian (from Boston) but I have been raising my kids here for 7 years. We love it here but there is so much apathy by locals about this issue. The phrase “that’s the cost for living in paradise” gets thrown around a lot and they actually believe it. It’s sad how much people absorb here. But then to turn on the people who visit is just not ok.
I’m sad to say my wife and I have left Hawaii 2022. She is a born and raised local girl which I meet in 1983 & we have been married for 35 years and have 3 grown children. We finally decided we had anough of the high cost of living.
Bought a home in Florida twice the size and half the cost for a similar place.
Miss Hawaii terribly and will visit often 🤙Aloha
In regard to housing – Zoning, Permitting problems and Taxes are a major issue. Those are controlled by elected government officials and their appointed bureaucracy. Don’t expect any decrease in housing costs until those are addressed.
Taxes and lodging rental costs are a detriment for visitors and their $$. It just seems HI has so many problems that need to be addressed. Love to visit, have been doing so for nearly 30 years, predominantly in Kauai, and we will continue to come (late 70’s and mid 80’s age) as long as capable. We hope and pray things improve for all residents and visitors.
Gary
It doesn’t help when the locals are rude to the tourists. Tourists are needed but alot of the locals don’t want them there and let it need known.
That’s a Way oversimplification of the problem not to mention an exaggeration. I wouldn’t call it “a lot of locals”, but I will agree it’s growing. It’s also not helpful when tourists act entitled and rude to the locals.
Bad experiences abound on both sides. My mother’s family has been here for more than a few generations and my father is from the mainland. I make a living off the tourist industry & I’d take the hit & see it downsize, *not* because of the tourists but because of those who abuse these islands wholesale for profit off of this industry. I think there’s room for tourism but not at the expense of the place it exploits. I’m most interested in moving forward rather than personal poo flinging, blame games. There are crummy people everywhere (just as there are good people) so is this really the time/place?
I’m not sure what the solution is but I for one would like to hear more of those ideas. Mahalo!
It seems that Hawaii property taxes are quite low compared to Texas and other states. Does that mean housing prices are only high because of the demand or greed? What is the Governor doing about it?
Hawaii housing has always cost more in Hawaii than on the mainland. It’s an island in the middle of the pacific with a limited amount of space and it’s very popular. Thus, high demand, low supply. standard capitalism is at play. Now, when you add a huge number of “budget” tourist to the mix, you get a lot of the housing in Hawaii being converted to sort term rental property. This also drives up the price as “investors” from off-island come in an start buying up property. This then reduces the amount available to locals driving up the price of long term rentals.
Abolishing the Jones act would go a long ways to help residents afford to live here.
This, this, a million times this! The Jones Act must go ASAP!
For those who don’t know what the Jones Act is. The 1920 Jones Act requires that all cargo transported between U.S. ports be on ships that are U.S. flagged, built and mostly owned and crewed by Americans. Since most of the cargo vessels that operate the seas between Hawaii and the mainland US are foreign owned/flagged/crewed they can’t be used to directly ship goods to Hawaii, this driving up the cost of shipping.