It just takes one person to wreck it for others. With some ugly details.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
500 thoughts on “How Some Tourists are Ruining Hawaii Travel for Everyone”
Comments are closed.
It just takes one person to wreck it for others. With some ugly details.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
My granddaughters 12 and 9 were going to travel together from Maui to Long Beach. When you book a Hawaiian airline ticket 12 is considered an adult. But I’m told that the 9 year old has to travel home with a adult at least 15. Misrepresentation I believe.
The Hawaiian Islands and her native people are a special gift of natural beauty to all of us! If you can’t respect or appreciate that or demand and expect “special treatment” for your tourist dollars spent there – then you should consider staying home! Maui no ka oi!
My wife and I have visited the islands at least twice a year over the last 5 years. We do live in California where our locals treat the freeways and streets like their own personal garbage cans. We do not treat California like that and when we visit the islands we have always had a pleasant experience and have always treated everyone with respect and kindness. Due to that we have treated the same by all the locals we have encountered. I think in the grand scheme of things if everyone treated others with respect and kindness, this world would be a better place.
Hopefully we can get to that place at some point. We will be visiting Maui in July and can confirm we will leave no trace and will treat all with respect and kindness.
Lee
Thanks for this information…. My adult daughters and I are headed to Hilo and Kona this month and we are really looking forward to just relaxing, taking in the local culture and not worrying about being on a diet for a few days. We have been to Maui and Kauai together in the past years and have always enjoy the ‘spirit’ of the islands. We hope for everyone that this ‘spirit’ will never be lost for the residents of Hawaii, as we realize it is their home.
So very sorry to hear about the rude behavior of some visitors. My wife and I have been coming to the islands for 40 years, we first honeymooned on Kauai in 1982. We have visited The Big Island and Maui, but Kauai is our favorite.
We have a trip planned to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary this August and we look forward to our time there with 18 of our children and grandchildren. We will be wanting to share our favorite island (Kauai) with all of them!! We will be careful to be good visitors.
Aloha and God Bless You!
Maybe I am in a minority but I have been coming to Hawaii often over the past 50 years. I have not observed terrible visitors. Drunks maybe. The locals may not like the tourists but without the all the money the tourists bring to the islands, life would be even more difficult without it. I hate to see tourists get such a bad rap.
It’s a numbers problem. If 1 in 1,000 visitors are rude, then back when there were only a few thousand coming they were rare. Now that the numbers have climbed so much so have the number of rude visitors. As the travel industry continues to push for more and more visitors so that they can make more and more money, the number of rude visitors will continue to climb higher and higher.
Who fills the jails in Hawaii, locals or tourists? When that question is answered honestly then the solution is at hand.
Those fortunate enough to call Hawaii home have a responsibility to preserve this place as well. When more Hawaii natives show more Aloha, maybe the few bad tourists will get the message.
Thank you for this article. I live on Kauai, and recently had to rent a car. There was a long line at the airport and only 2-3 counter personnel. People were tired and angry for the wait, complaining loudly why don’t they have more help. One customer (actually from Oahu) was downright abusive to the counter girl, just because she asked for I.D. and charge card verification for the assigned drivers. When I saw how the customers treated the counter help, I suddenly understood why it is hard to get people to fill those positions. The counter girl remained friendly and positive even when practically being yelled at. The woman was so loud she disrupted the other customers… and I wondered if she could even fathom her actions.
Hi Frieda.
Thanks for your input, and your other comments.
Aloha.
As I get older I find I’m less and less able to put up with other people’s malarkey. This sounds like a good opportunity to remind the person yelling at the counter agent that we are ALL tired, she’s not trying to jack up the customer (who does that when all it gets you is yelled at?), and getting upset at someone for enforcing rules someone else made doesn’t do any good. It just as often comes out as, “Shut your poi hole and stop being a jerk to someone trying to help you so we can all get out of here!”, but it is yelled with aloha.
With car rental prices not going down has anyone rented from TURO and if so what is your experience?
This makes me so sad. We have visited Hawaii many times (mostly Maui) and had to postpone a trip twice during the pandemic. When we were able to finally go I was thrilled. We headed to the Big Island this time and had a very nice, low key trip. I didn’t witness any ugly behavior but saw a lot of clothing on people that left no question as to their state of mind and lack of peace within. I doubt they know what Aloha is. I saw it as more of the same attitude that is being seen everywhere. There seems to be an increase of people everywhere that are really angry, impatient, entitled and not very empathetic. I hope we can turn things around. Worldwide.
It is very sad to see what is happening with travel especially since the pandemic. Too many entitled people for some reason. But I have to say that being a tourist to Kauai a number of times before the pandemic we did encounter entitled tourist ourselves. Not often but it was aggravating when we did. Just hate for this to be happening to one of the most beautiful places on this earth. Seems like there is no respect for anyone or anyplace anymore. Have heard over and over about state and national parks being trashed up by tourist. Was hoping to travel to Kauai again but I am afraid it will never be the laid back Island we came to love. Thank you for all the informative articles.
Hi Nancy.
Thanks for your input, and your first comment. Yes, we concur, this phenomenon isn’t limited to Hawaii.
Aloha.
We live in Nashville and it’s a similar situation. People feel entitled to their Nashville “experience” which seems to be getting wasted in short shorts, cowboy hats and boots and behaving very badly. We can’t even go out in our neighborhood for a quiet dinner bc they’re everywhere.
I don’t know what’s wrong with people. The recent news story about the stranded dolphin who desperately needed compassion and assistance but instead became a social media prop for entitled tourists brings this entitled mindset tragically into focus.
My husband and I are fortunate to return to the Big Island in two weeks and cannot wait to breath in all the beauty and aloha of this magical island 🌺🤙
Finally! Some of us have been feeling this creep for a long time, and it’s only been worse since COVID.
Dad born in Hawaii and I lived there as a child. I’ve been back many times and I’m surprised that Hawaii has so many problems with tourists. I live in a popular tourist area now and we don’t see the same rudeness that Hawaiian residents deal with. The only thing I can think of is for many Hawaii is the trip of a lifetime and many tourists put a lot of pressure on themselves to have a “perfect” vacation…everyone needs to chill out and relax. Maybe legal Maui Wowie could help?
No matter where we vacation or go other than our own home we are guests and should act like an appreciative, thankful guest. If we act like a spoiled child we should be sent home and depending have financial consequences too.
I think the same can be said for just peoples’ attitude in general, post-COVID. The sense of entitlement in people today is so bad, but why? It truly is disturbing…crazy times. It’s like we were isolated during COVID now the world has forgotten basic human manners and common courtesies. Aloha!
Unfortunately this is not just happening in Hawaii. I work at a world vacation destination & we are having the same problematic attitudes and the adults are actually exhibiting this unexceptable behavior right in front of their children.
I’ve been going to Hawaii all Islands since I 17 I’m now 70. I had many friends retire and move to the Islands. I understand the locals feelings all to much I was a cop for 42 yrs. I lived and worked with the self important attitudes of the self important idiots. I’ve also seen the alhoa spirit and good christian values both in Hawaii and mainland. There always has been idiots and always will be they just seem they are more self entitled more so because there are no repercussions for rude or criminal behavior. You want it to stop support those who will do something.
We recently returned from 9 days on the Big Island. There were no expectations other than to relax and we had no issues anywhere with anyone. The island seemed less busy that we have seen in the past.
My wife and I have been coming to Hawaii for years and mostly to Maui. We usually include our Daughter and her family which now includes our two grandchildren. Hawaii feels like home and we’d like to think that we share in the Aloha spirit. It feels like home the minute we disembark from the plane and breath the wonderful air (we’re from the San Francisco Bay Area). We’ve been so many times that we now understand that what will be will be and it’s not worth getting excited over the little inconveniences. We’d like to buy a place but that’s not likely unless we win the lotto. For now, we love Hawaii, it’s people, and the wonders it has to offer. We respect it and always try to leave it better than when we arrived. Mahalo!
This is so unfortunate. When I visit HI, I definitely don’t want locals automatically putting me in the “entitled tourist” category. I try to “blend in” and live the aloha.
I live and work on the Big Island in the Hospitality accommodation industry. STVR to be exact and we have had our share lately of the most rude, entitled, demanding, non realistic, sarcastic, judgemental, prejudice Guest we have Hosted since the pandemic. We offer a whole house with 2 bedrooms, hot tub, fruit trees, gated, fenced and covered parking and all the convenience of Home that is oceanfront with only steps to Black sand beach and access to to many more wonders along our Puna Coast for less than a studio/1 bedroom garden view or parking lot in any Hotel. But, yet they think their money should give them more or they paid too much and the nearest town is only 10 miles away and that is too far of a drive for shopping etc.
It seems to be the “way of the world” these days not just in Hawaii. While at our Marriott timeshare in Phoenix this week – where I’m the mid to high 90’s shade was a premium at the pool – one couple every would stake out 3 lounge chairs for the 2 of them taking all the shade in that corner ( by days end, they had 4 chaises occupied including one exclusively for their noodle!). When out of frustration I asked t to move the noodle so we could have two on the shade, his comment was “we like to live around”! Bozo!
I agree that a small % of tourists make it look bad for others, but that is true of many vacation destinations. There is the other side. As a tourist, I’ve been offended by different locals on several occasions on different trips. The worst was getting screamed at by a golf course employee for no reason, truly no reason. On another occasion, we brought friends to Hawaii, their first time, our 40th trip. The night we arrived we went to the local grocery store where my friend was joking with store staff and one staff was apparently in a bad mood as they instantly bit his head off. He was shocked as was I. There are several other occasions of undeserved verbal attacks from locals that I’ve personally experienced. Let’s be balanced here.
Where can I stay for a true Hawaiian vacation in Maui. We would definitely be most respectful of the land and its people. We are an older couple. We want to be like the locals not with all the tourist please. Would love to learn the culture as well. Thank you for all you help in this matter.
Sincerley,
Denise
Hi Denise.
We’d suggest you check into Hawaii guidebooks such as Maui Revealed for a review of Maui accommodations.
Aloha.
Unfortunately, bad attitude is now rampant throughout our country. Fortunately, Hawaii has strong gun laws or we would be experiencing the mass shootings and road rage killings that are now common on the mainland. Another reason “Lucky to Live Hawaii’.
We don’t get to visit Hawaii often but so appreciate it when we do. Unfortunately, there is much evidence that our entire culture in the U.S. is becoming more and more rude and argumentation. It’s not just tourists. I don’t think there are any quick solutions.
Funny during the pandemic all I heard was need to rethink tourism slow it down it’s about the aina and bring reefs back blah blah blah. So watching hawaii news and they says just with USA travelers they are over all 2019 numbers and with Japan Europe Canada etc start piling in it will be like we’ve never seen before!!! Ok so what is it? You want people there or don’t you? The more you allow in the more riff raff.
Aloha-
Unfortunately the examples you site are not unusual at all anymore. There is a general sense of rudeness and entitlement that is pervasive to all areas of our society. I suspect there isn’t any one root cause but I think a generatio or two have not been taught to follow the golden rule. Just that would go a long way towards stemming a lot of this behavior. The political polarity and unrest it has caused, combined with the stress induced by COVID has only made things worse. I wish all would heed the advice of Rodney King.
thanks
Hi Jon.
Thanks for your input on this and your more than 100 comments.
Aloha.
I have been to Hawaii twice and love it. I am hoping to get there a 3rd time in my life. Unfortunately Hawaii is not unique in experiencing these incidents. In nyc it is a fact of everyday life. It has to do with the lack of morals,decency and respect that is brewing in the country and world as a whole,for some time now.if I dared disrespect a police officer,let alone bite one my parents would have whooped my ass
Believe it or not, this is also happening a lot on the mainland also.
Amen to your final paragraph. My heart is always on Kauai, even though my home is in Washington State. My theme, One Foot on the Sand. Over the years, I have hosted friends and family during my 3 – 6 week stay each fall. Before they come, I give them two simple ideas to keep in mind 1) you will never be a part of their culture and 2) respect that culture at all times. I love Kauai and the aloha that has greeted me each and every time I have visited. I come home with a heart filled with Aloha and try my best to repeat that behavior as often as I am able. Please do not let isolated self indulgent behavior on the part of some, become the expected norm. We are truly not all like that.
Yesterday I encountered an aggressive driver and couldn’t figure out what I did to make him mad. After reading this article I guess I know now. This guy was blocking me from getting ahead and no matter how I intended to do so. He would speed up or slow way down just to make sure all lanes were blocked for me to move up. And by slow…I mean he went down to below 40 mph at one point. I can’t remember a time before this type of driving was so blatant. I finally said to myself “the heck with it” and just chose a lane and drove. It wasn’t too long before he was borrowed in traffic way behind me. LOL He was in a Lexus Suv, BTW.
Here in Silicon Valley we find others who think wealth makes them somehow “special” humans. They can be rude, run red lights, rude to store clerks & various other bad behaviours. I’ve always loved the Aloha spirit in Kauai. People (probably locals) let drivers in from side streets when traffic is bad & are unfailing polite I’ve found in my many years of traveling there. Sure as H… miss the old days!
Ok first things first. Residents of Hawaii are also tourists when they leave Hawaii so we are not aliens who do not understand what it means to be a visitor to another state. With that perspective in mind, be aware that Hawaii residents are respectful as tourists and therefore expect respect from visitors To Hawaii in return. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Simple code of conduct straight from the Holy Bible.
We need to start cutting back on the amount of tourists coming here, and letting the tour vans and trolleys through our residential neighborhoods is frustrating I see it all the time as I live up near Punchbowl, there have to be some limits locals outside the tourism industry are upset and nobody seems to care
The way ppl are driving is scary! They have forgotten what a stop sign is
That is really sad…..it is called respect. I traveled to the Islands during covid, because I love it there, and have respect for the islands, which are a gift. Maybe go back to slight restrictions, which will hopefully keep people like this away….
We are Kauai residents vacationing for 1 week on Moorea, French Polynesia. We are taken with the kindness and welcoming spirit of the locals! We both work in tourism on Kauai. As haole, enjoying our lively island, we can’t believe the rudeness we can encounter from our own community. Aloha is a way of life! Live it!
I have lived in Hawaii on the big island for 10 years. I love Hawaii and treat it and it’s people with respect.What I have noticed over the years is the amount of garbage on the side of the roads and our beaches. I don’t understand just throwing your garbage out the windows .Please come and visit but please take care of our beautiful home.
Having visited a variety of the islands over the 20+ years as an academia conference administrator, I have to agree with you. I would see some visitors and wonder how anyone could act like that…. I always counseled our attendees on what to do and not to do, that respecting the local customs only adds to the experience of the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. Over the years, we luckily only had one or two that needed ‘private discussions’ to help them understand.
Here’s the problem. Visitors who have that entitled attitude won’t listen to your gentle reminders. As a matter of fact, in my experience, it just annoys them.