You don’t own the state, property owners do. Tourists that are Citizens have rights. Hawaii is a state the same as Florida. When I go to Florida I don’t care about native Seminoles. I am just going to the beach. Hawaii is just another state of the union. I enjoy going to the condo however, I could go to many. Hawaii is just one of many great places to own a vacation home.
Funding for enforcement is vital. What’s the point of rules if people know that they’re not going to get enforced ?
I also think a general visitor fee is a great idea. I don’t understand why that’s a problem. There is a severe housing shortage on this island, charging the 1 million annual visitors just $20 each would over time provide funding to build housing for the 1200 Kauai Kanakas on the DHHL wait list.
People love to visit Kauai. The county could charge each visitor $100 and there still wouldn’t be a significant drop in numbers. And although tourism is the main industry here, the island’s resources are limited, Kauai can only handle so many visitors, and residents, especially Kanakas, should come first !
One of the issues from a visitors perspective, is that it creates an “us vs them” atmosphere. It’s not about the money, how would you feel if every time you traveled to another state or even Hawaiian island other than one you live on you were charged a fee just to visit?
The housing issue is not caused by visitors, the cost of housing is driven up by people buying vacation properties or residences on the islands. Ask yourself how many people that are complaining about visitors are native Hawaiians?
The visitors help support the local economy and spend enormous amounts of money to visit, which is fine, however we expected to be respected the same that locals expect to be respected, charging us for everything we do creates division.
We reside in Florida and I heartily encourage you greedy people to charge a “visitors fee” to all of the tourists that come there. It will just encourage more people to come to destinations like Florida and enjoy all we have to offer, without getting nickel and dimed to death!
Amen, arrogance, they seem to forget they’re part of the USA,that’s what Room Taxes are for, but that’s the One Party System, have a great Independence Day Weekend.
I live in CA but as a haole born & raised on Kauai in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s, I have seen so much change on Kauai. Most of it not good. I know tourism is important to the economy of Kauai but it is out of hand. Locals are sick of entitlements, rude tourists. Education seems to fall on deaf ears. Only thing left is to hit them in the pocketbook. I hate it for myself when I visit ohana but….
Entitlements? What “entitlements” are you referring to? Tourism is out of hand? Explain that to us tourists that help support the Hawaiian economy! It appears to me that YOU are the one that believes she is entitled! You think you are entitled to tell us tourists that we are rude? You don’t even live in Hawaii anymore, so where do you get off making those assessments about “tourists”? We are as respectful of both the Islands and the Locals whenever we are in Hawaii. We are the same way anywhere we go to visit! It is funny, I never see these “rude tourists” that you refer to! Just a lot of people having fun and enjoying all the Islands have to offer. You should try it some time!
By “entitlements” the author means that 90% of the people coming here think that they are “entitled” to do whatever they want, to the point of even having to be rescued from trails and spots they are banned from and then turning around and suing the county for thier negligence. They have no respect for residents or wildlife on our island. Because of the hordes of tourists descending on the island both the roads and beaches are jammed, those of you that have been here recently know what I am talking about. Over the past few years I have watched this island slowly turning into Waikiki, it is so sad. Kauai is a rural island full of beauty, and needs to stay that way, which is what both residents and visitors want to see.
As someone else said on here, people like you want the money that tourism brings but don’t want the obvious inconvenience that tourism has on your every day lives. 90% of tourists think they are “entitled” to do what they want? Really? Let me explain something to you, if we are paying for the privilege to visit Hawaii, then we should be able to do what we want, where we want, as long as it is within the limits of the Law and ethically correct. Those that go places that they are not supposed to go and have to be rescued are less than 1% of the visitors that come there. But you choose to lump the rest of us into that small minority.
(Continued from above)
But they don’t! So we will continue to visit the Islands. Have a nice day!
1
sean
So driving on roads, parking at beaches and occupying sand is now consider rude?
It’s more like the people of Hawaii blaming anything they can for their own issues. Try blaming the likes of Kawakami and Victorino…
Like many, I’ve never seen a tourist being belligerent. Never witnessed a tourist kill a.Monk Seal on Molokai. Not too many tourist bring their washing machine to Hawaii to leave it on the side of the road.
Some of you have serious misguided issues directed at the wrong people
Hi Janet ! I get it , I visited August 2021 & had a hard time feeling/finding the Aloha Spirit. The horrific influx of tourists allowed after Covid is shameful to say the least. We can blame all we want but that does not address the issues. The Hawaiian Government local & federal levels need to be looking for solutions /resolutions to what visitors need to expect from a visit to Hawaii ?.
Respect says it all from both sides of the coin, dig deep and let’s respect each other again. Aloha & Mahalo
I just can’t get over how you people keep saying there is no respect. I have not seen it. Each time we have visited the Islands, we have seen nothing but people having fun, enjoying all the Islands have to offer and the Businesses making good money. Get over the doom and gloom comments.
PS: I don’t care how many down votes I get. They come from people that are downers! I am positive, not negative!
It sounds like a headache. I agree there needs to be something to control and compensate for tourism to keep the island. However, this sounds like an annoyance to locals.
I Love the islands, as many visitors do, but…ima gonna wait awhile til I return. this has to calm down. I do not want to add to the problem. I don’t mind paying certain fees but, again, gonna wait. its almost like luau(and other islands) are like Venice. you gotta pay to play. thanks for all you to to keep all of us informed.
We have been visiting Kauai for almost 30 years now, and always feel privileged to be able to do so. That first year following Iniki we were so taken by the resilience and spirit of Aloha. We became timeshare owners of multiple weeks. Our family members have become property owners. I certainly appreciate that some things have to change, as the number of visitors has greatly increased. I love the North Coast shuttle as a solution. More like that please. The list above seems like the right list.
As a person that vists the islands I see the citizens of Hawaii just get by financially and work really hard. I would be happy too pay feed if it went to local citizens and townsips
My family has owned 2 time shares at Hanalei Bay Resort for 20 years. I would like to see a differentiation between a property owner and a tourist who has no investment in property on Kauai.
So you think a “property owner” (in your families case, a “Time Share”) should be treated better than a tourist? How so, please explain! I own 2 weeks of Time Share in Gatlinburg, Tn. I do not expect to be treated any different than the people who are staying at Hotels, or Motels.
Bad idea! For years states parks in the “USA” been advertising to come visit “our parks”. Now we want ” our” goverment to put restrictions on our vacation visit. This nonsense idea is happening on the main land already! No people no money! My be you want more goverment bailout money?
about time something is being done…..! but still its gloomy picture..! instead they should charge a one time fee to all incoming visitors….. and do the simple charge for parking…!
If you are going to do this, please improve parking and bathrooms. We were just there for10 days and both were inadequate.
Thank you.
You don’t own the state, property owners do. Tourists that are Citizens have rights. Hawaii is a state the same as Florida. When I go to Florida I don’t care about native Seminoles. I am just going to the beach. Hawaii is just another state of the union. I enjoy going to the condo however, I could go to many. Hawaii is just one of many great places to own a vacation home.
Go then
Funding for enforcement is vital. What’s the point of rules if people know that they’re not going to get enforced ?
I also think a general visitor fee is a great idea. I don’t understand why that’s a problem. There is a severe housing shortage on this island, charging the 1 million annual visitors just $20 each would over time provide funding to build housing for the 1200 Kauai Kanakas on the DHHL wait list.
People love to visit Kauai. The county could charge each visitor $100 and there still wouldn’t be a significant drop in numbers. And although tourism is the main industry here, the island’s resources are limited, Kauai can only handle so many visitors, and residents, especially Kanakas, should come first !
One of the issues from a visitors perspective, is that it creates an “us vs them” atmosphere. It’s not about the money, how would you feel if every time you traveled to another state or even Hawaiian island other than one you live on you were charged a fee just to visit?
The housing issue is not caused by visitors, the cost of housing is driven up by people buying vacation properties or residences on the islands. Ask yourself how many people that are complaining about visitors are native Hawaiians?
The visitors help support the local economy and spend enormous amounts of money to visit, which is fine, however we expected to be respected the same that locals expect to be respected, charging us for everything we do creates division.
We reside in Florida and I heartily encourage you greedy people to charge a “visitors fee” to all of the tourists that come there. It will just encourage more people to come to destinations like Florida and enjoy all we have to offer, without getting nickel and dimed to death!
Amen, arrogance, they seem to forget they’re part of the USA,that’s what Room Taxes are for, but that’s the One Party System, have a great Independence Day Weekend.
You too Randy. Stay safe!
I live in CA but as a haole born & raised on Kauai in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s, I have seen so much change on Kauai. Most of it not good. I know tourism is important to the economy of Kauai but it is out of hand. Locals are sick of entitlements, rude tourists. Education seems to fall on deaf ears. Only thing left is to hit them in the pocketbook. I hate it for myself when I visit ohana but….
Entitlements? What “entitlements” are you referring to? Tourism is out of hand? Explain that to us tourists that help support the Hawaiian economy! It appears to me that YOU are the one that believes she is entitled! You think you are entitled to tell us tourists that we are rude? You don’t even live in Hawaii anymore, so where do you get off making those assessments about “tourists”? We are as respectful of both the Islands and the Locals whenever we are in Hawaii. We are the same way anywhere we go to visit! It is funny, I never see these “rude tourists” that you refer to! Just a lot of people having fun and enjoying all the Islands have to offer. You should try it some time!
By “entitlements” the author means that 90% of the people coming here think that they are “entitled” to do whatever they want, to the point of even having to be rescued from trails and spots they are banned from and then turning around and suing the county for thier negligence. They have no respect for residents or wildlife on our island. Because of the hordes of tourists descending on the island both the roads and beaches are jammed, those of you that have been here recently know what I am talking about. Over the past few years I have watched this island slowly turning into Waikiki, it is so sad. Kauai is a rural island full of beauty, and needs to stay that way, which is what both residents and visitors want to see.
As someone else said on here, people like you want the money that tourism brings but don’t want the obvious inconvenience that tourism has on your every day lives. 90% of tourists think they are “entitled” to do what they want? Really? Let me explain something to you, if we are paying for the privilege to visit Hawaii, then we should be able to do what we want, where we want, as long as it is within the limits of the Law and ethically correct. Those that go places that they are not supposed to go and have to be rescued are less than 1% of the visitors that come there. But you choose to lump the rest of us into that small minority.
(Continued from above)
But they don’t! So we will continue to visit the Islands. Have a nice day!
So driving on roads, parking at beaches and occupying sand is now consider rude?
It’s more like the people of Hawaii blaming anything they can for their own issues. Try blaming the likes of Kawakami and Victorino…
Like many, I’ve never seen a tourist being belligerent. Never witnessed a tourist kill a.Monk Seal on Molokai. Not too many tourist bring their washing machine to Hawaii to leave it on the side of the road.
Some of you have serious misguided issues directed at the wrong people
Hi Janet ! I get it , I visited August 2021 & had a hard time feeling/finding the Aloha Spirit. The horrific influx of tourists allowed after Covid is shameful to say the least. We can blame all we want but that does not address the issues. The Hawaiian Government local & federal levels need to be looking for solutions /resolutions to what visitors need to expect from a visit to Hawaii ?.
Respect says it all from both sides of the coin, dig deep and let’s respect each other again. Aloha & Mahalo
I just can’t get over how you people keep saying there is no respect. I have not seen it. Each time we have visited the Islands, we have seen nothing but people having fun, enjoying all the Islands have to offer and the Businesses making good money. Get over the doom and gloom comments.
PS: I don’t care how many down votes I get. They come from people that are downers! I am positive, not negative!
It sounds like a headache. I agree there needs to be something to control and compensate for tourism to keep the island. However, this sounds like an annoyance to locals.
The island is much too crowded. We will soon stop going there. Sad!
I Love the islands, as many visitors do, but…ima gonna wait awhile til I return. this has to calm down. I do not want to add to the problem. I don’t mind paying certain fees but, again, gonna wait. its almost like luau(and other islands) are like Venice. you gotta pay to play. thanks for all you to to keep all of us informed.
We have been visiting Kauai for almost 30 years now, and always feel privileged to be able to do so. That first year following Iniki we were so taken by the resilience and spirit of Aloha. We became timeshare owners of multiple weeks. Our family members have become property owners. I certainly appreciate that some things have to change, as the number of visitors has greatly increased. I love the North Coast shuttle as a solution. More like that please. The list above seems like the right list.
As a person that vists the islands I see the citizens of Hawaii just get by financially and work really hard. I would be happy too pay feed if it went to local citizens and townsips
My family has owned 2 time shares at Hanalei Bay Resort for 20 years. I would like to see a differentiation between a property owner and a tourist who has no investment in property on Kauai.
So you think a “property owner” (in your families case, a “Time Share”) should be treated better than a tourist? How so, please explain! I own 2 weeks of Time Share in Gatlinburg, Tn. I do not expect to be treated any different than the people who are staying at Hotels, or Motels.
Bad idea! For years states parks in the “USA” been advertising to come visit “our parks”. Now we want ” our” goverment to put restrictions on our vacation visit. This nonsense idea is happening on the main land already! No people no money! My be you want more goverment bailout money?
about time something is being done…..! but still its gloomy picture..! instead they should charge a one time fee to all incoming visitors….. and do the simple charge for parking…!