What readers are saying about the proposed new visitor fees in Hawaii.
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76 thoughts on “Kauai Joins Maui On Visitor Fees: Backlash + Where’s The Money Going?”
What readers are saying about the proposed new visitor fees in Hawaii.
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I think it’s important to require deep water and energy conservation from hotels,golf courses, and other tiuriism related facilities. Yes, it will cost the hotels and such more to initiate, but they will save valuable resources AND money in the long run. More electric transportation requirements for tourism would help both pollution and congestion. E-bikes, e-scooters, e- trikes, and SMALL EV requirements for rental fleets, powered by abundant Hawaiian SUNSHINE!!
The real way to slow the tourism down is to either ban or perhaps place hefty fees on AIRBNB and VRBO rentals. The County never anticipated that so many people would be renting out a room in their home for tourists and extra income. That is a tremendous strain on the island. Hopefully come Labor day things will calm down around here. The people who are coming here and staying in hotels are supporting the workers who live here. Those who come to stay in an AirBNB are just cooking at home and not caring about the local worker.
And, those staying in a Private Residence were not mandated to Quarantine for 10 days and could come and go as they wished! It’s also ironic that a couple with child traveling from the PNW connected in San Francisco, were test, they tested Positive and boarded United anyway without being challenged. From what I read, they were residence of Kauai, not sure what happened when they eventually got there!
Hawaii has for the past 30 years been my favorite vacation spot. With all the additional entry and parking fees, along with propr reservations necessary, I’m done going to hawaii.
We have come to Maui for over 20 years every January. We volunteer at the golf tournament. We’ve visited the other islands as well, Maui always being our favorite. We stay at condos, not the massive ones, but the smaller ones. We are very respectful people, we’ve never littered, left everything as pristine as we found it, in other words, we’re good tourists. We’ve eaten at your restaurants, purchased items at your stores, basically done our part to keep your economy going. The fees we pay at the condos have gone up considerably over the years, as has everything else. I understand the need for the tourist to help pay, but there are high taxes built into everything we pay for. The car rental prices are outrageous. I’m sure there are some rude visitors, every state has that, but you need to address your homeless issue. That isn’t the tourists fault. And the growing mounds of garbage they produce is getting disgusting. That is a local issue. After Covid, it’s become obvious that you depend upon the tourism. Don’t run them off, clean up your own backyard!
I am so glad that I visited the islands in 2016. I have no desire to visit now since it appears Hawaii wants me to fund the fall out from a disastrous Covid 19 policy.
Oahu just implemented a $25 fee for Hanauma Bay. I have been in the hospitality industry here in Hawaii for 35 years. I disagree with price gouging the tourists to balance the budget. I always put myself in the other person’s shoes. A family of 4 needs to fork over another $100 to go to Hanauma? Forget it! HTA, your tactics to limit visitors are working!
Its all they know unfortunately. Hawaii could be so much more especially with their location, time zone, and english speaking residents and US rules and regulations. Where are the incentives to lure the tech folks? Who wouldn’t want to work from Hawaii? All I heard on youtube chat’s between the innovation people in Hawaii who btw were all retirement age, like me, was tax tourists at 40%. That was the only solution they ever have.
Whose relative Of the government got this contract? It is being reported today that the county will spend $30K studying non-resident fees at county beach parks, among other things.
What’s there to study? I could do this in 20 minutes or less .
It seems Hawaii should be a little more respectful to its visitors. I always believed in the saying: “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” Labeling all visitors as “rude, disrespectful tourists” is a mean approach. I will begin traveling to other Pacific islands that are more welcoming and warm-hearted. Trust me…there are many of them!
Let’s just look into the future. Hawaii government adds on fee after fee, visitors, company trips, weddings, cruise ships and such stop coming. Now all these name brand mega resorts on the islands decide to go away. Now what do all the locals do? Just saying, be-careful what you ask for!! You may not like the result. Just look what COVID did….. I have a vacation account to save my dollars to take a trip, can certainly take those dollars else where. I can sell my Marriott time share on Maui (have had for 18+ years)and buy a Marriott time share some where else. I really don’t want to do all that, but if traveling to Hawaii gets to expenisive like rental car, food, acitivities and restaurants guess what, bye bye. Lots of options!!!
Thank You.
Having just returned from a month visiting Kauai I saw absolutely NO incidents of rude, or disrespectful behavior by tourists. Locals (Hawaiians) were lovely, friendly, & admitted to being happy to see tourists & finally have employment again. However, while driving on the west side to photograph the sunset, we slowed down, used a turn signal and used a designated scenic turn out. A young Hawaiian woman stopped traffic, screamed at us that “this was not” something, used her middle finger & roared off. I don’t know what the problem was but I sure remember the curse words. No Aloha or respect on her part.
The act of milking the tourist industry for more $$$ is kin to killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Managing tourism is the business of Hawaii, no longer cane and pineapples.
Here in Illinois, we’ve had a Toll system since the late 1950’s for Road improvements. It was slated to only last until 1965, then be eliminated. The greedy ones figured out that the “free money” came in without any accountability attached to its use. And so it continues to this day at an increased price. Listen up, Hawaii, fREE money = Greed = no good. Appoint a Control Board to oversee where the money goes, with full accountability & oversight. Until then, my tourist dollar may be better spent elsewhere!
Check out Falmouth, Mass. beach parking regulations.
This state charges hefty daily fees for non-residents to park at some beaches and other beaches are for residents of the town only who must have beach parking stickers on their vehicles and a fine if they lend their cars out. Google their beach parking restrictions/regulations. Hawaii could do the same.
Having grown up in mass and having lived 20 years in Hawaii. Last thing we want is to make Hawaii Massachusetts. Last thing Hawaii did related to mass is hire the company and leader of the big dig to do the big rail project and we all know how that’s gone. The people of mass have been fleeced for years I would take anything mass has done and do the opposite.
Wow! I am a Canadian who comes every year, this will definitely change it for me! Hawaii is making me feel unwelcome, my adult kids save to come every second year and if they add a fee I will support another beautiful place in the world who welcomes us!We have all struggled with covid not just Maui, Hawaii your losing the Aloha
Amen, Barry, well said. We usually take a day away from the sun when in Waikiki, and take the Kalanianaola Hwy. around Diamond Head, Wailuku, Kaneohe-Kailua to Kahuku and the North Shore, better part of the morning. Minimally along that route, one will pass 4 broken down abandoned cars, in various stages of being stripped, obviously being there more then a week (month or more), but blame the Tourist! If you go again, a nice days ride, the North Shore packed now, no Parking unlike the ’80’s, Matsumoto’s Shave Ice a “must” Ice Cream yes, Azuki Beans, no, then head back H-1 through the Pineapple Fields to Ft. sh after and Pearl Harbor below, maybe 60 minutes. All the best.
I don’t mind a fee for entering Maui however 15$ per car and then %4 per person to visit Waiʻānapana state park is outrageous. Most going there stop for an hour or so. I don’t mind paying for parking at beach’s but that is too much. Isn’t it enough to have a reservation and pay 15$?
How quick they forget what it was like when there was no tourist, begging for people to donate to Maui’s food banks and now let’s get the tourist to fork out more money when we are there tourist spend a small fortune. I love Hawaii, especially Maui but I don’t like to feel used. There are other places to go.
Just returned from Oahu, 1st time visit. It was overcrowded, understaffed, and expensive but we had the time of our lives at 70yrs old.
Reading the comments from the locals, I am shocked and feeling disrepected because the one thing it appears is forgotten is that the Hawaiian Islands is part of the USA, not a foreign country. I’ve got every right to visit without feeling I don’t belong. I understand the local/non resident thing, it’s part of every state’s mentality. The kicker is when federal dollars comes into play, it muddys the water. I live in OK but Hawaiians visit every year and we don’t charge them fees just because we can and they don’t live here. Be careful of how y’all treat the Golden Goose because if she stopped laying those golden eggs, where would y’all be with the tax base being put back on the locals? I do agree that before more businesses are allowed to build(Amazon), infrastructure needs to catch up some. If it gets put back and lags too much before long your beautiful islands will be nothing more than Those Islands. I hope to return someday,Waikiki was a special place. Please don’t disrespect me because I will never disrespect you.
Aloha
Barry
Barry, with all due respect, there’s a huge difference between visitors going to OK and visitors going to Hawai’i. Though it technically is a part of the US there’s long lasting effects of history of it being stolen from their own monarchy which has added to the aggression agains tourism and the military. If OK had an abundance of visitors that weren’t respectful to a fragile eco-systems, locals, with a very limited amount of space and land I presume you’d be singing the same tune.
On your next visit to Hawaii I commend you to visit the outer areas of Oahu, if you didn’t have the chance. Waikiki is the “Walmart” of Hawai’i with the mass amounts of tourists, corporate ventures, and commercial real estate. There are way more special places than that of Hawaii’s main tourist destination.