State indicated Hawaii visitor spending up just 23%, but how is that even possible with prices through the roof?
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151 thoughts on “Hawaii Visitors Left Reeling By Up to 300% Cost Increases”
State indicated Hawaii visitor spending up just 23%, but how is that even possible with prices through the roof?
With lodging prices at $700 or more per night. Is it any surprise that repeat bookings are down. This is not even a 5 star resort. I will not pay those prices for any vacation. I am sure more and more people are coming to this conclusion.
We have traveled to Hawaii 2x a year since 2000. (except 19-20). Our last visit was Dec 2021. Since then we have found that EU, South America, and Asia, to a lesser extent, is just as affordable as Hawaii. Just booked a river cruise in Europe for the same cost as a week in Hawaii. Unfortunately, Hawaii is not on our list for at least 3 more years. Don’t like being ripped off by car rental and overpriced hotels.
Amen!
I’m confused. We hear a lot that Hawaii does not want visitors or are not welcomed. Which is it. Our family loves going and love and respects the land, but get a vibe via other articles that they don’t . Do they want people vacationing there or not?.
Just curious.
We did the Road to Hana drive and had a road rage incident with a local who deliberately ran into the back of our rental car because I waited for someone to cross on of the one lane bridges. Very stressful! When we returned our rental at Thrifty the lady checking us in joked it was probably one of her relatives. She apologized for the incident, very nice.
I live in Maui for many years now and of course through Covid. Almost bankrupted many hotels and as a result over 30,000 left Maui alone.
Yes, we respect tourists and the economy needs them for the sake of locals’ livelihood.
But what is happening is too many tourists visiting the Island just act as if they are at a theme Park.
The Islands cannot handle the extreme disrespect given to the land and the local people.
It is just a sign of the world we live in now. But on a small Island, everything is escalated.
We will treat you with Aloha if you respect and at least treat those who give you hospitality at hotels restaurants etc. And most importantly treat the beaches and oceans well by leaving them clean. The trash on the beaches and road to Hana etc are being abused and I would guess 90% is tourist sad to say.
There is no reason to think that tourists are trashing the islands any more than residents. I live here and see residents trashing the beaches and the neighborhoods every single day.
It’s easy to blame the tourists, but resident parents need to take a much closer look at the way they are raising their children. Similar to visitors, they also need lessons in respecting the land.
I am worried about our future. We are totally dependent on tourism yet we are hostile to it. We make economic diversification very difficult through barriers and over regulation. Just try and start a business in this state, it’s almost impossible! We are a one trick pony and we are beating that horse to death.
I went to Honolulu last year. And spent half my time on base with my nephew who is in the navy, and the other in a nice little condo , 6 days, $1200. I bought my rt ticket 10 months in advance, $600. All in all….it was worth it, I’d never swam in the ocean before, nor tasted the salty water! 😆…I’ll go again one day, just plan ahead.
So they charge ridiculous admission fees to parks and beaches and people take their vacation $ elsewhere. They got exactly what they wanted. I vacation in Florida and the Caribbean now and get more bang for my bucks. Aloha
I love Hawaii and have vacationed there 4 times over the decades. We were looking for a beach vacation for this winter and my travel agent – who I have trusted for all things travel-related for over 30 years (and she’s sent us twice to Hawaii already!) – said, in no uncertain terms: “Don’t even think of Hawaii right now. It’s become ridiculously expensive!” Very disappointing; we may still go despite the cost since we love it so much and have such fond memories of our times there………..but still………..when a travel agent is telling you to not go, that’s saying something!
Thanks for all the valuable information you provide. Sorry to be the bringer of bad new; please don’t hate me! But I bet she’s not the only travel agent giving out this advice. We Love Hawaii and hope to be back soon.
Aloha!
Hi Andy.
Happy travels wherever you choose! BOH editors are traveling to compare other vacation destinations with Hawaii this summer and are finding that things aren’t as different elsewhere as we thought. We’re looking at rental cars in Los Angeles – as costly as Hawaii or more. Hotels/vacation rentals in Europe – the same thing.
Aloha.
Also, for re ntal xars specifically, it us really important to recheck your prices amevery now and then. The $1500 10 day rental we originally booked had dropped to $500 3 weeks before our trip so that saved $1,000 right there ( which we are using to surge on nice dinners).
On our Hawaii trips we stayed at the Waikiki Resort Hotel on Koa Ave in Honolulu. It’s a nice hotel in a good location, about a block from the beach. We got rates about $200/night for a very nice room, a fraction of what some of the surrounding hotels charge.
We have stayed there twice, if we visit Hawaii again we will definitely stay there.
Hi Scott.
Just checked that location and found best rate was $265 for city view. Add $48 tax and $46 Amenity Fees. Before parking, that’s $358, which is what we said.
Aloha.
Our son payed for our trip to Hawaii as a gift, lt was little over five thousand dollars with hotel airfare there and back, we stayed at Hilton oahu, this was 2022 July, we would love to return but if it doubles or triples from this price we probably will never get to return.
We run a monthly rental on Oahu and have definitely seen softening. We haven’t changed our prices, and don’t intend to.
But the taxes the C&C charge, are hurting travelers.
Short-sighted..
There are much better places prices and people,,in mexico,,, el salvador and costa rica,,come visit,,without breaking bank!!!
This is GREAT news for local, full-time residents, like myself! Trust me, we’re all celebrating these outrageous prices and hope that they make them even Higher so that fewer people will want to come and visit!
For years and years and years, we’ve been reasonably telling (and then loudly complaining when they refused to listen) the government, HTA and the travel industry that it’s just too much tourism and absolutely strangling the quality of life here, as well as Deeply impacted the environment in a very negative way.
But no, the airlines especially don’t care. If they hadn’t increased the number of flights over the years, to and from the Hawaiian islands, it would simply be impossible to have over-tourism.
Alas, it appears that good ole’ capitalism with the law of supply and demand taking the lead, has taken its’ natural course and saved the day by pricing everyone out. These islands are finite in real estate and subsequently have finite accommodations and activities. And you know what that means…many dollars chasing too few goods and services make da price go, Boom!!!
It’s funny how people love and adore the free market until it negatively affects their pocketbook. Go figure…
Without tourism there is no Hawaii economy. Which is it? Go back to sugar and ag? Military? Thats a great basis for an economy. We are an Asian westcoast mainland family who have been to Hawaii many times, and always respectfully, but I’m paying $1000 a night. But which is it?
Aloha Malia, great question. Everyone always says that there is no Hawaii economy without tourism, but I’m curious, how much have you or anyone else that makes this claim studied this important subject?
Or are you just repeating something you heard from somewhere? Regardless of the answer, one thing is for certain, for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, Hawaiians were able to thrive without tourism. The same will be true if it were to be drastically reduced or dare I say, even eliminated altogether. We accept those terms. Aloha.
@RP – You said “one thing is for certain, for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, Hawaiians were able to thrive without tourism. The same will be true if it were to be drastically reduced or dare I say, even eliminated altogether.”
And what kind of life did they have back then? Powerful Kings ruling over everyone. People living a subsistence life.
It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns. It was a hard life for most of the population.
Come on, Patrick. Make it make sense. Now you’re just being silly. Who said anything about returning to the days of old, with Kings ruling over everyone and living a subsistence life?
New technologies, processes and ways of living are borne oft-times out of necessity. Why wouldn’t this apply to Hawaii and Hawaiians? Unless you don’t believe they are up to the task and it’s inevitable that they would revert back to the time you mentioned because they couldn’t help themselves?
If that is the case, I would then sincerely request that you do a self-examination and ask yourself why you feel that way about the Hawaiian people.
My point was that Hawaiians were fully capable of living without tourism for thousands of years in the past and they are fully capable of living without it for thousands of years into the future.
Of course I was being facetious but you did mention hundreds if not 1000’s of years ago they were quite self sufficient. But what was life like when they were in their self-sufficient era? (Before outsiders came)
Your reference to “New technologies, processes and ways of living are borne oft-times out of necessity.” rings true but when and who is going to make that happen. Surely not the current “rulers” I mean government.
Of course Hawaiians are fully capable of living without tourism. But you turn off the spigot without a replacement and things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.
I was born in Hawaii before it was a state and things haven’t changed for the better since then. One Hawaiian “thing” (pineapple, sugar cane, etc.) after after another has fallen by the way side. What’s left except tourism?
HA! I knew you were being facetious!😆
You make great points, Patrick. Great points all. We do need a replacement for tourism, stat! I wouldn’t rely on local government, though. Usually the innovations I mentioned come from the private sector. Let’s wait and see. Hawaii has lots to offer besides tourism. It’s just a matter of the right people seeing the potential and value of these beautiful islands and their people. Aloha😉
The airlines have to negotiate with the local airports to increase the number of flights so that’s the Hawaii government working with the airlines to bring those additional flights, the airlines aren’t doing that in their own.
Visiting Hawaii is almost impossible for budget conscious travelers. What kills the desire to go to Hawaii is the over priced room rates at hotels that go back to the 1950’s +. Over taxations, cleaning fees and outrageous excuse for resort fees and in some cases a host fee is charged. On top of this, the hotels do not offer much in amenities to include in room coffee pot. Parking is another Huge outrageous expenditure. $55+ dollars per day! Many big name hotels (ahem, Marriot for example)do not offer airport shuttle service. What I’m going to spend in Honolulu/Waikiki in five days I’d rather go to Cancun for two weeks and park my rental car for free! Many hotels there offer shuttle service to and from the airport. I lived in Spain and traveled around Western Europe and the Med and I didn’t have the problems there like the ones I’ll be facing when I return to Hawaii (Honolulu). My first trip was to Maui
Big box hotels are taking advantage. They have risen prices to gain back losses from covid jacking up their rates & the resort & parking fees in the same manner post 911 and post 2008 mortgage crisis. Year before covid the hotels made highest ever $revpar in their history.
Its not just the Big Box Hotels. Take a look and things contuie to go up everywhere here on the mainland and in Hawaii.
When this happens people cut back and have to spend in other areas.
I do not want to see or hear if this continues what people will be saying when flights are cut back and prices soaring.
The Golden Goose was cooked and her eggs have been eaten.
Actually, a lot of visitors I know, including myself, are doing HI on the cheap..using up accumulated points from whatever program we happen to have. Am currently spending 10 days at GH Kauai, and with the use of points and status, essentially it is free Oceanview suite, except for the rental car and food for the 10 days. Also redeemed airfare points and so flying was free. This is definitely the way we’d do (or not) HI again due to cash prices rising so high.
Sooner or later, oahu will have no choice but to go back to farming. Economy will collapse. Tourism will change, but the after math will be devastating. The only people who will suffer is the locals.
John,
Your post hit home for me. I booked a trip for 7 in our family, to stay in Waikiki 7/9-7/13. We aren’t a family with a lot of money, but this was our dream to visit Hawaii. (First time traveling in over 25 years and sold many items to make this happen) I brought my kids, husband, and brother 40yo with a terminal illness. My brother was walking at the Waikiki park 9pm on night 1 of arrival. He was beaten and robbed. Our 4 day trip turned into a nightmare. Our kids have been terrified and obviously our only trip wasted. I got my brother back to CA in time for blood transfusions, but I guess I thought this was a very isolated incident and we have all tried to recover and but I was intending to try this over again to try to heal the trauma for my kids, but I will need to really consider this since seeing your post. The police didnt take a report and said this was extremely rare. I also was not aware that the locals don’t appreciate the tourism…. Everyone was so nice.
Short term rental property taxes just raised 45.8% on Maui.
I assume you mean for property owners. I just looked, and I don’t see that kind of increase. It increased a bit from last year, but nowhere near 48%. Where did you get your info?
We live on the Big Island part time…May-July we noticed very decreased tourism.
I own 2 vacation rentals on Maui and am not seeing any slowdown in bookings. I think people are adjusting to renting a 2-3 bedroom home for under $500 a night and doing more cooking at home. This has got to be a better option to over priced crowded hotels.
Maui is an island to explore and staying at a STR
is a better option for cost conscious travelers who want to explore the island
Aloha, hope all is well over there on Kauai. I wanted to comment that there are plenty of smaller hotels in Waikiki that are way under $400, and if you are Kamaaina no resort fees and some include parking.. The trick is to go off the beach and in toward the canal. I love the hotels overlooking the canal and the mountains. Beautiful and peaceful. also going farther toward the zoo and Diamond Head there are some less expensive places. These are not 4-5 start hotels but clean and quite nice with a 3-4 block walk to the beach. Walking around Waikiki is still the best time.
Hi Ane.
Good to hear from you! We’ve got meetings there again in a week and that’s what we are again finding. Under $300 becomes north of $350 with 18% taxes, parking etc.
Aloha.