Change had been brewing in Hawaii travel for years. Covid was the catalyst to fast-forward the inevitable.
133 thoughts on “Hawaii Travel Re-Boot Underway: Will This Work?”
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Change had been brewing in Hawaii travel for years. Covid was the catalyst to fast-forward the inevitable.
Comments are closed.
The government has wasted a ton of money on National Guard and testing. They should’ve built monoclonal infusion centers in some of the old state buildings that are empty. But, that would have made sense and they simply don’t.
Many comments here describe what Hawaii needs to do to appease tourists. As many locals suggest, Hawaii’s problem is over tourism, not the need to attract more. I understand how many locals are discouraged with tourists because many disrespect the natural environment. In my opinion, Hawaii’s focus should remain on protecting it’s greatest resource, restricting numbers to sites, identifying areas as protected, etc. If some tourists get upset, they won’t come. Many still will.
Let me start by saying that, as usual, the anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-any protective measure folks have taken over the discussion here. Rather than arguing about that, I thought that I would address the actual question. I think that there needs to be a balance struck between overcrowding, and the need for tourists to help the economy. Personally, I think that making it more expensive, is the way to go. Sorry, but I don’t think that anyone has a “right” to cheap tourism.
Amen!!! SWA and the fare wars it started have created more problems than we can handle. Regulate the number of daily flights and put a hold on new hotels and lodging…especially on Maui. A higher dollar spent per visitor will prevent the state from losing revenue. Less visitors makes for a better experience locals and visitors alike.
Hawaii travel is not a right…there are cheaper options a available for people as well.
Like I said before, if you think running up the cost is the answer you will end up with a 2-class society, the wealthy and the workers. There isn’t enough affordable housing for residents as it is. You don’t want to make things more expensive. And Hawaii is a state in the Union. Last I checked travel between states doesn’t require “papers”, or maybe they want to use Covid as an excuse to do just that.
It’s a very thorny issue, but the biggest one the islands are facing, I feel. Has the government taken any steps to attract new types of businesses and to offer them affordable housing for their employees? I don’t think outrageous fees and taxes are an answer, unless you only want the wealthy. Limiting flights and the building of new hotel rooms seems like the only logical way to me. Seeing the regeneration of the islands during Covid should be an important lesson. Let’s learn from it.
First, I believe that Hawaii has virtually no ability to limit flights. That’s a federal thing. Building more hotel rooms will have the opposite of the desired effect of reducing the crush of tourists that are currently causing all of the overcrowding. As someone suggested above, the real answer is to find a way to reduce the dependency that Hawaii currently has on tourism and find some other way to support the economy. That used to be agriculture back in the day …
We travel to HI three times a year. My husband’s family is from there. We visit relatives in the Honolulu area, and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city for short periods of time. But fees taxes continue to go up, and overcrowding makes it unpleasant sometimes. The family avoids Waikiki at all costs. We often opt for the Big Island or Kauai, because there are fewer tourists, yet all islands need the $ that tourists bring. HTA and airlines need to revamp and rethink Hawaii tourism.
Hawaii:
clings to an outdated worldview/tourism model regarding itself;
overall projects a stand-offish attitude;
demonstrates an inability to define its generalized tourism policy for 2022 and beyond;
maintains decaying travel support (and other) infrastructure;
cannot contain imposing higher cost to tourist measures;
fails to recognize and defend from highly competitive domestic and international destinations;
cannot balance cultural and economic interest.
Aloha,
I’m a recent resident as of 2019. I’m unvaccinated and I have a fear that if I travel to the mainland that I somehow would need a vaccination to return. I think testing is invasive unless I have symptoms and I don’t plan on getting vaccinated. I will tolerate a 10 day quarantine but I would like to feel more secure about no mandates in the future for testing or vaccination. First of all it’s unconstitutional.
Thank you for this forum.
If you are not vaccinated maybe you should just stay put to protect yourself and others
Kauaidoug – being vaccinated doesn’t keep you from contracting or spreading COVID…
We vacation on Maui every other year. We’ve enjoyed seeing more food trucks available. We appreciate the new rental car facility. We would like to see more electric rental cars made available. We would also like to see Lahaina pressure washed and cleaned up and an effort made to lease empty buildings.
It is an axiom and truth that I have experienced. Those that treasure, embrace and love Hawaii stay or come back regularly. Those that grumble find themselves on the wrong end of Pele’s skirt.
Here’s the truth: Hawaii has the lowest infection, hospitalization and death rate of any state except perhaps Vermont. Hawaii residents may not always like the mask mandates and social gatherings, but compare that strategy to the outcomes (that we know about)in a state like Florida.
“Hawaii has the lowest infection, hospitalization and death rate of any state except perhaps Vermont.”
Uhhhh, that used to be the case but no longer after the Delta variant hit.
Not hard to check, Bob, but here’s the data as of 12/7/2021:
Alaska and Vermont have the lowest death rate followed by Hawaii
Hawaii has the lowest seven-day average case and hospitalization rate.
Source:usafacts.org
JamesB, that is incorrect. Here’s a link to a Newsweek article published yesterday about Vermont having the biggest surge in cases since the beginning of the pandemic:
newsweek.com/vermont-seeing-largest-covid-surge-pandemic-despite-74-percent-residents-vaccinated-1657507
74% is hardly enough to prevent infections in clusters. Check the stats again and even with the surge, Vermont’s responsible attitude has helped it fare well. While you are at it, check the vax rates and infection/hospitalization/death rates per 100K, and you will find an expected higher rate in mostly unvaccinated states.
I think what Bob was trying to say is you can make statistics appear to say whatever you want. They are easily manipulated no matter which side of the confirmation bias you’re coming from. Are the statistics you quote adjusted for age groups, co-morbidities, or other factors? Maybe.
And my primary point, tho admittedly not well made, is that we need to learn to live with this w/o trampling our constitutional rights. This isn’t going away, liberty does not guarantee safety, stop being afraid.
Again, this conversation has degenerated into an argument about how Hawaii is handling the pandemic. The question on the table was how should Hawaii handle the balance between tourist overcrowding and its economic dependency on tourism? My opinion on that is that Hawaii should move to a model of fewer, higher spending visitors.
Joerg H. –
Good point, Sheryl B pointed out that Hawaii needs to return to its agricultural roots, relying less on tourism as the only source of economic survival. Having lived in Hawaii for almost 6 years in the past, I wholeheartedly agree with her assessment. There is such potential but the barriers to entry are high and difficult to overcome unless you are already financially overflowing, and even then, it’s not going to be easy but needs to be done.
As an East Coast resident I know what I’m about to say won’t be welcomed by all, but I think I know the cause of the extreme tourism overcrowding: Super cheap Hawaii flights from the West Coast. I don’t know if there’s a way to limit the overall number of flights to Hawaii, or to limit flights from a specific part of the country, but it should be considered. I’m for affordable vacations, but the fare wars should end, and limited flights would do that.
People aren’t going to fly somewhere that they don’t have a place to stay, no matter how cheap the airfare is. You have to get accomodations first. Hotels are overbuilt.
Ed I live in Huntington Beach. Ca. I’ve been coming to Kauai for 30. Years. I can fly to Florida on Jet blue for $175.-$225 rt. It’s America enjoy the rewards of hard work and competition.Fyi I just fly round trip to Austin Texas for$150. We are blessed with choice. Just remind people to give aloha where ever you go.