Hawaii’s governor said his environmental impact fee will raise up to $600M per year and simultaneously reduce the quantity of Hawaii’s “low-end” visitors.
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199 thoughts on “Hawaii Visitor $50 “Green” Fees: How, When, Where?”
Hawaii’s governor said his environmental impact fee will raise up to $600M per year and simultaneously reduce the quantity of Hawaii’s “low-end” visitors.
I think Nevada should introduce a water fee for tourist’s, since the Hoover Dam is drying up…. Colorado, for brown cloud abatement actions and hiking trail maintenance…. Florida for senior care funding… Every state will have one….. Shutdown tourism if you don’t want it….
As opposed to your sarcasm, they should do it, as should HI.
Actually I believe that you are selling yourself short on the Fee Prices, at least triple it and put in coin operated showers/toilets/sinks! Imagine a Hawaiian Tourist fumbling in the shower covered in soap suds looking for quarters!
Ernie, that’s what happened to me. I was driving from LA to ALaska with my then girlfriend and dog. We camped out all the way. In 1976 over 900 miles of the Alaska HWy was unpaved. So much gravel and a bumpy ride.
It was my first time using a pay shower. So water on, water off, suds up. Water on for the rinse cycle. Problem was, the shower was paid for by the minute, not water used. I had to go back to the tent for more quarters so I could enjoy that final rinse.
Low end tourist? Wow! I guess everyone should go somewhere they are welcome.
Can’t you just feel the Love and Aloha?!?
Agreed, Robert! Last time I checked, low-income doesn’t equate to low-end.
What about the people who return to visit their own families?Tons of people in California and Nevada were raised in Hawaii but had to leave because of the high cost of living. The 9th Island is in Las Vegas after all.
Business travelers too?
Mary D., if they couldn’t afford to live in Hawaii and moved away then they would be some of the people that Governor Green is referring to. It’s a Sad Day when the Governor of a State talks about Discriminating against people so casually, an interesting beginning to his 4 year term.
Maginalizing some people to feed an ignorant ego is trending in this country, unfortunately. But it never works out they way they intended. I support what locals who hail from the islands want, not what the Silicon Valley tech behemoths want. If the people want us to go elsewhere, we can and should, elites included. Environmental and cultural impacts are real in every beautiful place. I hope the Gov gets a clue about his own entitlement issues.
Great idea. The world’s tourist are “loving Hawaii to death.”
Transparency will be key, to mitigate the inevitable attacks by anti-government factions.
I wish we could declare the whole State of Hawaii a national park, but that wouldn’t fly for obvious reasons.
Ultimately, only rising airfare and accommodation charges will “weed out” the low-middle class visitors and select out the smaller group of rich who can afford pretty much anything. Sounds elitist, sure, but it’s no different than top-tier restaurants weeding out budget-conscious diners who cannot afford $120 steaks and $45 Caesar salads.
Go help those of us who live here and provide essential service paying below the national average.
Seriously. What a joke.
Yep. Constitutionally dead on arrival.
Eldo, your wonderful musings of a serious problem being exacerbated by Your Governor are noteworthy, how and why I shall explain to you. You believe that what is about to occur is a wonderful idea, it may take some convincing but let’s say that the other 49 States decide to do the same, fly over 4 States and be charged $200 each way plus $50 to enter Hawaii, that’s saying You Qualify to travel. A Financial Statement will Suffice, Oops….you don’t have enough, you’re low-middle income scum, trash that can’t go anywhere, too bad. Watch what you wish for, you might just get it!
The difference between the 2 examples that You use Eldo are like comparing Oranges and Denture Cream. Hawaii is a State. A High-End Restaurant is a Commercial Enterprise that offers a wide variety of Upscale Foods prepared by a Chef and Experienced Staff at a Higher than Average Price. Very Much Different, No Comparison At All!
I really like the National Park idea, please do it. Then Anyone could afford Hawaii and the yapping that is trying to drive tourists away would cease. I Like It!
So the governor’s $50 fee, he hopes, “would reduce the quantity of Hawaii’s “low-end” visitors”? So I guess we’re not to visit the islands anymore, because we are those “low-end” visitors. We were able, 19 years ago, to buy a timeshare. We pay every year for all the fees & taxes. In 2004 we rented a car for one week for <$100 but this time the same one week will be $400, that's partly because of the additional $100 fees. We enjoy visiting every two years, we volunteer when we can, we enjoy the island's beauty, and we honor & respect all of the islands that we've visited. We visit to relax & enjoy the peacefulness. And we do it on our "low-end" budget. Terrible that someone, the governor, believes only rich should visit.
They can put up a sign at the mainland airport gates for flights to Hawaii that read “If your wallet is not at least this thick, you cannot board” – like the minimum height to ride signs amusement parks have (or used to, I haven’t been to one in years).
The Governor and the 15% (maximum) of the whining complainers that demand “Their Islands” be returned to them. See how much that I support their culture and Native Hawaiian Businesses from this day forward. Enough of this Fake Aloha too!
So the Governor doesn’t want “low-end” visitors. Does this apparent economic illiterate know that the rich vacationers have other places to visit? And, a fee like that proposed will send those who can afford it to go to a more welcoming destinations. Leaving Gov Green with a higher proportion of those smelly “low-end” visitors,like me.
That is until the fee heads north of $100 per person.
Our family is bailing on Hawaii. We visit “home@ at least twice a year. We are going to Japan and New Zealand this year. Now there is Rarotonga, Tahiti, and Fiji. Why would I pay $50 to visit a dirty, homeless filled place full of trash and burned out cars?
Excellent Point! Makes plenty of sense to me.
Regarding the “Green Fee” seems like substantial legal hurdles. Wouldn’t raising airport passenger fees be a better workaround? Perhaps also offering a rebate for Hawaiian residents? Aloha
I can’t wait to see the government bureaucracy that comes along with it. The unions, pensions and highly paid politicians will love it. Be careful what you wish for. Let’s double it for for Hawaiians flying to the mainland, we don’t want any low end people coming over here, LOL!! And since when is anyone going to Hawaii poor, we have our last trip planned this May, bought before the pandemic but I think it will be our last time, we’ve been coming for over 40 years but so many other places to see. We have always practiced Mahalo spirit and only ever received Mahalo spirit from everyone on Hawaii but it reaches a point where your money is spent better elsewhere. Remember this when you are on the government dole looking for handouts.
There honestly shouldn’t be any rebates for anyone. Flying causes environmental damage, it doesn’t matter if you are a tourist or resident. Pay up!
The only entities getting any “green” will be the lawyers involved with all the lawsuits that will be filed. Adding $50pp to the cost of a Hawaiian vacation won’t deter singles or couples, but would add up for families. So much for family values.
Governor Green is trying to minimize “low end” visitors today. It will be “low end” residents tomorrow.
I was considering writing that, you’ve made the point very well.
If this “visitor’s fee” is going to happen, when is the soonest you envision it being charged to vacationers? What about the people that have already agreed to the terms, booked and paid for their next vacation? Would they be charged if the visitor’s fee gets enacted before they arrive?
Added onto Air fare? What about returning residents? Will they pay as well?