You’re not alone if you feel priced out of paradise. As Hawaii’s prices continue to soar, frustrated visitors are left wondering: Who’s to blame, and can your voices even be heard? From hotels and airlines to state taxes and fees, a myriad of factors are driving up the cost of a Hawaiian vacation.
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1966 was our first time to Oahu, oldest Son born at Tripler, and I fell in love with Hawaii.We’ve travelled back over the years always staying at the beautiful Hale Koa where we always had to eat out at local restaurants, but this year we had to cancel our plans to go for 10 days because the costs were becoming out of sight, airfare as well as other costs such as restaurants. We will miss our bi-annual trips to our other paradise (we’re from FL). Aloha Oahu & pomaika’i
Cost of airfare and hotels will decline when there is a substantial and prolonged drop in visitor numbers.
Visited in July and beachfront hotels were busy. Flights full. Also had worked in Hawaii 2021/20222 for 6 months. 2024 July felt a little less busy in Waikiki than April 2022 – but not a big decline.
Hotels and airlines are not charities- why would they charge less, if there are enough customers to pay for the product. This is how a free-market economy works. Nobody is entitled to a cheap Hawaii vacation. Maybe Person A is priced out of coming, but there are Persons B, C, D-Z who still visit. Imagine the talk about over-tourism, if hotels charged $150 and airfare was $99 one-way.
We are retired and have gone to Hawaii for two years now in February or March and found our last time was in Maui, we will miss Hawaii as we are looking at a cheaper vacation stay. I would like to visit all the islands but it’s not in my budget.
Big island resident here with a job in the service industry. It’s interesting to read how many people feel like the Aloha Spirit isn’t here for them anymore. I have a general take on that situation. The press nowadays is so full of animosity of pitting one tribe against the other that it has infiltrated every aspect of our daily routines. People hear that they are unwelcome here so they show up with their defenses on high alert. The number of tourists who make eye contact or smile or who are generally just in a good mood has declined since the internet started filling people with anger and fear. Aloha is like a mirror. It reflects back at you exactly what you see in it.
Neither the article or the comments take into account the hefty currency exchange rates that non-US citizens pay. As a Canadian I have to factor in an extra 30% onto all prices. BTW, our gas prices here on the West coast are $8/gallon, so Hawaii gas prices don’t look bad to us.
On the subject of aloha from the locals, there is no goodwill generated when a local plunks a traffic cone into a parking spot you’re about to pull into, and tells you “I’m a local, I can do that”. Or when a local rides your bumper on the highway or passes you and then deliberately slows down. Or the bumper sticker which says “Welcome to Hawaii, now go home”. We get the message and are taking our vacation dollars elsewhere.
One improvement would be to either get a permanent waiver from, or eliminate the Jones Act. This act drastically raises the costs of shipping products to all of the islands. Contact your members of Congress to get this act revoked.
It would have been nice if the commenters on Hawaii’s high prices had included where they live. I live in Southern California. Every time I visit Hawaii I find the prices comparable to So Cal. Some prices are the same Some prices are a little more.
Prices are pretty comparable to all major cities. New York is actually quite a bit more expensive depending on what you’re looking to do or experience.
For all the calls for tourists to buy local, when we were there last week the locals were bypassing the “locally owned and operated” gas stations and Idleing away gas waiting in four or five deep lines at Safeway. It was several cents less. We drove right to a pump at the Hawaiian-owned station.
But herein lies part of the problem. We’re all cheap at heart even over small amounts. Kind of like the old Pogo line that we have met the enemy. . . and they are us.
This may make sense for those who drive a lot and/or have large tanks. I don’t. I live on the other side of Hilo from Safeway and to drive there just to get gas uses as much gas as I’d save on their lower prices, but most people don’t do that calculation. So I go to my local gas station more often than not. If I drive to the other side of town anyway I’ll look at the length of lines.
One reason locals buy gas at Safeway is by grocery shopping at Safeway they get credit at their gas pumps. What looks like a few cents difference may actually be 20, 30 or more cents difference per gallon.
Who cares. Send Hawaii back to its roots. They don’t need tourists. Let them live in grass huts, hunt wild pigs and have their dececrated pig cook in the ground with palm tree leaves bellowing smoke in the air. Who needs electricity. Right. Live off taro roots and poi. Who needs money. Real Hawaiians live off the land and hate change. Stop cargo ships from offloading supplies and see how long it takes for these We Are Not Part of the United States thinkers to think again. Someday Hawaii will be begging the tourist to return and it won’t happen. Paradise is never cheap and never has been.
We’re done with Hawaii until we feel welcome again. Until then we’re experiencing some awesome vacations on the mainland. Absolutely love Utah, Colorado and Montana! Just a few weeks ago we were visiting Florida, kayaking where the mangroves meet the gulf, when a big manatee surfaced right beside us. Pretty cool!
I really feel sorry for the locals in Hawaii, but that’s what you get when you vote in a bunch of politicians who don’t represent you. Hopefully they figure it out before it’s too late 😞.
Regarding the 18% tax on lodging, time shares, etc., I don’t think contacting a governmental authority will have any significant impact, since we – those who rent/own these are not voters, and most governmental folks are only really concerned about getting re-elected/re-appointed.
If you have flexible usage of your timeshare value, and indicate you will start using it for locations outside HI, that might have an impact. As soon as the income from this tax starts to diminish the politicians coffers, it Might get their attention. I’ll give it a try this year, as our tax Is significant (to us at least!)
Thanks for highlighting this subject – I believe it has gotten to the point where is is going to be important to future ‘might be’ visitors.
Blaming Josh Green seems like a little shallow. It’s not like he sets the hotel rates, car rental rates or food prices. From what I can tell, he’s been trying to make life more affordable for those of us who live here. I think the anger is misplaced.
Instead, pay attention: Here are the culprits:
Hilton Hotels: McLean, VA
Hyatt Hotels: Chicago, IL
Marriott Hotels: Bethesda, MD
Sheraton Hotels: White Plains, NY
Avis Car Rental: Parsippany, NJ
Hertz Car Rental: Estero, FL
Thrifty Car Rental: (division of Hertz)
Dollar Car Rental: (division of Hertz)
Budget Car Rental: (division of Avis)
See a trend? None of these companies are local Hawaiian companies, yet we’re all stuck with the prices THEY set. To make matters worse, none of the money spent at these hotels stays in Hawaii. A small percentage generates wages for hotel workers, but they’re so underpaid and overworked, they’re striking for better conditions.
Yes, but … we who own short term rentals are also stuck with that somebody who rents long term and stops paying rent can’t be gotten out without a court order. Would you rent long term, especially if they will then take your short term rental permit away and give you one that only allows to rent 30 days or more? There is a law on the books (don’t know whether it got approved yet) in Hawaii County, where I live, to do just that, meaning that once you lose the real short term rental you’re stuck with going to court if somebody stops paying rent and won’t get out.
Personally, I would never be a landlord in the first place. Taking housing stock off the market for income generation only makes the current housing situation worse.
It does, but that is precisely what capitalism drives. Demand equals more profit. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
But be careful about hating the game that’s provided the most diverse, innovative, lucrative, and transformational markets the world has ever seen.
Technological and medical advances would not be possible by the motivation to capitalize on them.
Be careful of biting the hand that has fed your, relatively speaking as compared to the rest of the world, better life.
All of this is having an impact on tourism. People simply aren’t coming, especially to West Maui, like they used to. Hotels are already starting to offer discounts. The problem is more complex with restaurants and other businesses who are struggling to cover their extra high operating costs in the islands. Their suppliers don’t care about the plunging tourist numbers.
Hawaii’s economy is upside down. Until there is a plan to right the ship, I don’t see things improving any time soon.
Sorry but went to a Foodland on Oahu and the person in front of me had a $200 grocery bill. The clerk said are you a local and Hawaii drivers license was presented. Bam the price suddenly fell to 71 bucks. Went to Tony Roma’s and the waiter asked do you want the tourist menu or the menu for the tourist. I asked whats the difference? He just replied he had to give me the tourist menu. Had a Hawaii entertainment book and no merchant ever honored any promotions the book offered. All the activities are free to locals and the tourist always pay through the nose. IMO just pure greed.
Foodland has a loyalty card – and yes, they have some pretty steep discounts and people make use of those. For all I know it’s not dependent on being local.
It isn’t, I don’t live on island but I’m enrolled in the Foodland Maika’i program (not a card anymore – you use your phone#) and I use it and get reward points and discounts whenever I’m home. As you stated, there are some excellent discounts there. Shop Local.
Best Regards
Foodland only needs your phone number to issue a loyalty card. When I lived in Maui (2 yrs ago)the checkers would regularly ask someone if they wanted to sign up for one.
So as an Airbnb host in a resort zone, we pay property taxes at the same percentage as a hotel. For example, $24k per year per room vs. mom’s house, which is like $2k a year. Hopefully, this higher hotel property tax rate translates into lower property tax cost for full time residents, as it should be.
However, the difference is passed on to transient guests. Also, the property tax valuation has increased across the board, here, as it has in the mainland. So a doubling of the assessed value would be $48k per vs. an equivalent $4k for a full time resident. This also gets passed on to transient guests.
This could explain why the Turtle Bay now has to brand itself as a Ritz Carleton for the same exact product as before. They have to charge higher rates to cover costs, so they have to upbrand the property. Same with Ko Olina where the Ihilani is now a Four Seasons.
We went to Oahu last year for 10 days. We love Hawaii but this will be our last trip unless something changes about the cost. We went 5 years ago for the same 10 days and stayed at the same Resort. We did the same activities as we took two different grandchildren than what we took last time. What was the difference was the cost for this trip was double what it cost last time. We’re not going to continue going somewhere because of greed.
BOH Guys;
Great article. Well reasoned and balanced. Ever considered public service?
Thanks
I am fine with the airfare and car rental costs
but the lodging costs are excessive. We will adjust by
going to Kauai once a year instead of twice a year.
I really sympathize with the local residents.
The cost of living is very challenging.
Darn Tootin it’s nosebleed expensive! I just paid over 3K for airline tickets (one way) for my son and his fiancé to join me over the holidays in Dec. I’m offsetting their $400 a night costs at the Outrigger Reef and tickets back to DC… Amazing…
By all accounts the average American Consumer is tapped out. I expect to see a sharp dropoff in visitor arrivals in the near future, and, sadly, an increase in the steady hemorrhage of locals giving up and heading to the Conus. I’m not sure anything (practible) Can be done at this point of the economic and social death spiral the state is in…
Best Regards
The rising prices in Hawaii is the cause of the governments, Federal and Hawaii state government. Federal government is causing inflation with its overspending. That makes goods and services to Hawaii more expensive. It is not the landlords or the property owner’s fault. A lot of people rely on income from their property in order to make it or from their small businesses. But it’s Hawaii’s high tax system starting with the GE tax, then the income tax and the transient tax. Then the unfriendly attitude of Hawaii and its advertisements is telling people to stay away and they’re getting the message. So you wonder why tourism is down and why costs are so high. That’s why I’m a CPA. I know how these things work. I’ve been doing this for 40 years
I’ll say it again. I don’t think the Government cares about the price gouging. This is the plan. Make it so expensive that only the very wealthy can come. If tourist numbers dropped in half because prices double. They still generate the same tax revenue. In addition, less people means less resources (water, power, roads..etc) are being used. This would mean less drain on the little resources they do have. Seems like a win…win.
Wealthy people don’t stay wealthy by excessive unnecessary spending. They may stay closer to home, go to more value loaded places, or spend the same to go much more “exotic” place further in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean.
except for the people who lose their jobs because fewer people eat in restaurants, drink in bars, take tours.
You forgot how the Hawaiian government applies additional taxes if you own a place you rent short term (STR’s) the property taxes are 10 tens higher for an STR than if you don’t rent short term, live in the property or keep it for your own use. The electricity in a two bedroom condo is over $1,000 a month
Great point! That’s why I don’t ever rent out anything, although I do have extra space. I wish there were a “locals only” co-op where we could trade a night or two, for free, to others who also have a vacant “Ohana” unit.
It’s not just visitors being hit with the crazy-high costs in Hawaii. The locals have to deal with it daily. I just got an email from a retirement planning group, listing all 50 States in affordability to retirees. Hawaii was dead last on the list, at #50 out of 50. Here’s more on my “worst of” list: (1) Hawaii has the highest cost of electricity of all 50 States, at 44 cents/kWh, mainly due to 80% of its electrical generation from fossil fuels (2) Hawaii is the only State with a “gross” (truly) General Excise Tax: at 4+ %, it compounds: local wholesalers pass this on to retailers who pass it on to consumers, etc.; (3) Hawaii has the highest cost of gas in the nation @ $4.67/gal.; (4) 90% of Hawaii’s food is imported. I could go on, but honestly, it’s too depressing. We could do so much better. But after 40+ years here, I’m not holding my breath.
State of Hawaii and local counties need to get their heads together. There doesn’t need to be a 18% TAT if they managed their property taxes correctly on spending and those costs passed onto operators. Because Hawaiian government notoriously cannot even manage a checkbook, I don’t expect much change. Ironically, they had this window during Covid to figure out plan B. Instead, like always..no big ting’.
As a multi-week time share owner (Marriott) on Kauai, I really reject paying daily occupancy taxes on our units like hotel guests pay. We are weekly owners who pay property taxes to Kauai County every year when we pay our annual maintenance fees, which have risen dramatically in the last few years. To me that is double taxation, and it’s wrong. Plus when we are on island each year, we contribute sales tax income and support many local businesses through our purchases.
My wife and I were married in Hawaii and have returned to the islands 15 more times. But last year was likely our last time. Prices are out of control. And places we loved to visit now require a reservation a year ahead and charge a fee to enter. We will look at spending our vacation money in other exotic places. Hawaii is slowly killing its tourism business and in doing so will also do serious harm to all the locals. Goodbye, Hawaii!
Econ 101 (or was it 102?) showed equations using the 2nd derivative of the equation to maximize profits. These businesses know it well. And they’re using it to maximize profits. Customers? If they can pay, they can play. If not, who cares? That’s their thought process. Welcome to capitalism.
‘If not, who cares?’
If their property remains vacant most of the year, who cares, right? Certainly not the people and businesses that work in support of their property, right? Locals that are employed by these businesses? Might they care?
One of the biggest problems I see with hotel prices is that many hotels are not updating/maintaining their properties at a pace that can demand the high prices.
We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai a few weeks back and although it is a beautiful hotel with amazing grounds, it is showing its age and the rooms/hotel need updating if they are going to continue to demand 1000/nt for a king room.
On the other hand, the Sheraton in Poipu has been recently renovated and the rooms and property are quite nice at a more reasonable rate. The grounds aren’t as expansive, but they have put a lot of money back into the property.
Regarding staff and locals, we had great interactions with everyone that we ran into on Kauai.
So lets kill as the Maui Mayor is trying to do short term much more affordable rentals, try to force everyone into a overpriced hotel.
Another brilliant move to support the local economy.
They are digging their own grave.
I’m a resident. No offense to you & your readers, but this article is focused on a “First World” problem- vacation in Hawaii costs too much. The bigger issue is living in Hawaii costs too much and continues to get worse. So much so, that for the first time in Hawaii’s history more Hawaiians now live on the Mainland than in Hawaii. And more children born and raised in the islands leave for the Mainland to find good employment and affordable housing. And look at the hotel and restaurant staffs. Many are older & retiring. So where will the hotels, restaurants, shops etc get their staff in the future? The exorbitant cost of living in Hawaii is the baseline upon which the state and the hotels, restaurants, airlines, etc. pile on their costs and fees. Just lowering the 18% tourist fee is not going to solve the underlying problem. Mahalo
The world is full of island economies that are healthy with livable costs for locals. You need to ask why Hawai’i is different.
Stop voting for economically clueless politicians whose only solution to any need is an additional fee on tourists. As they continue to increase costs, fewer tourists will produce less revenue. As the cycle repeats, the economy goes down the drain.
So what’s the solution? Leaving is economical. It’s called economics. If the local economy can’t support locals, those with an education or rational (critical) thinking will move to a place where it makes sense. It’s really not different than when people moved when the water or food dictated that they move. Nothing to see here. Been going on for thousands of years. I get the short term, non-critical thinkers out there, but seriously? Simple math. Simple execution. Stop being beholden to the past. Thing small, fail big. Hawaii leadership is a great example of that.
The issue is with-in the State. States are Independent, their Governments elected by the residents, not the tourists. The Governor, the House, the Senate, the Mayor’s are elected by the citizens of Hawaii. These are the people who are responsible for the lifestyle of the citizenry, their failure to grasp, what has become a Tourist driven Economy, with minimal Exports, Pineapple, everything, everything has to be shipped in, from Bricks, to Glass, to Wood, to Food, Clothes, whatever! As everyone in the 48 contiguous States is finding out, Green, like Ige and others has no grasp on business, and sadly the residents are the one’s squeezed first!
Agreed Randall R.
Nothing will change until residents get so fed up with their incompetent state and local governments that they vote them all out.
Hawaii is way overdue for a total house cleaning. Vote them all out. Until that happens things will continue to get worse for everyone.
Sooner or later the people will realize that Hawaii cannot survive with just billionaires like Zuckerberg, Oprah, and elitist out of touch Hollywood celebrities.
We have been coming to Maui for over 40 years. The real problems are with the local government and huge corporations that control the hotels. The islands need to tax them and use the money for local housing, they need to pay livable wages, forced on them by the state or local government. As tourists we pay more for less. They underpay locals. Very simple. Also spend the tax dollars better.
Unbelievable that all are being priced out over greed. I was born and raised in Hawaii and know that even the locals are being priced out of the community. You can blame outside corporations but the blame is actually on the local Government that allowed this to get out of hand. I am going back to visit my family and again the Island is on strike obviously because they can not live on the wages but also because your economy is not realistically affordable for the working class. To blame the corporations without actually doing something such control on price gouging which will ultimately push much need revenue away to other places affecting the hospitality industry and the purchasing power of those living there because of lack of funds which is simple economics. Hmm need to get your act together cause even with My Ohana there I will be considering PR, Bahamas ect ect.
You nailed it! “blame is actually on the local Government that allowed this to get out of hand”
We save for years for each trip to Hawaii. Then who wants to spend twice as much as the last trip when there are so many other, friendlier places to go? We’re left questioning whether it’s worth the cost anymore.
Aloha, Josh Green has made it clear that he doesn’t want middle income visitors, wants everything high end. The visitors group more or less has said the same. So you end up with the Oprah’s and the uber wealthy that buy up land and homes, bring in their own chef’s and staff and have their own playground. One side to that is that they don’t “bother” the locals, of course, that means no $ locally either.
That’s the plan… Ultra rich and their own staff. Force out the local people so they can have their own private playground.
This will be our last trip to Hawaii too, sadly. The animosity, anger, and price gouging are a big turn-off. We’ll choose to spend our hard-earned money elsewhere, at places that appreciate visitors supporting their economy.
Thanks so much for printing this article. When Josh Green said he only wanted high end tourists, he didn’t put any tourism money into promoting and helping businesses. Instead he offended tourists, drastically increased tourist taxes, and put no money into maintaining Hawaii. Tourists are being treated like outcasts. It’s obvious where the problem lies but the ones that created the problem are not capable of fixing it
Is there anything that can be done to bring back mid-range visitors? Drop prices across the board on food, car, and hotel costs. We’ve been coming for years, but now the costs are out of control. It all adds up, and it’s making people like us rethink their trips.
I dunno, but when car dealers started selling cars at lower profit margins they made more money due to the increase in the volume of sales, or so my car dealer friends told me.
I believe Southwest Air is building an alternate fuel plant for themselves in the Mid West, just saw it on the daily Farm Report. This will decrease operating costs in the long run.
I am so frustrated as a resident, that we, who live here permanently, cannot afford an hotel.
I wanted to do a birthday night for my son here on Big Island.
The hotel cost for one night, not in a tourist location was $386 total per night. I can not afford that. It is the whole deal is based in tourists, and we are just the workers, who have crummy wages and cannot even afford, where we live.
Yep, a staycation on basically any island other than O’ahu is out of reach for most local residents.
Back in the day, kamaainas were usually offered special rates at hotels. Fly/drive packages for inter island travel were awesome deals with Aloha Airlines. My wife and I took advantage several times. Those daze are long gone.
Auwe!
The King Kamehame resort in Kona has a $170 deal for Kamaaina with a waived resort free, and free parking. My grandmother stayed there just last month. I don’t know what the grand total turned out to be. But I hear you. Everyone is so concerned about the tourist. Government should be concentrating on improving the lives of locals. It doesn’t seem to me all the money generated from tourism is going for that.
So True! I no longer visit any other island, unless I have friends there that let me stay for free. Right now that only means Maui. I wish there were a “locals only” co-op where we could share & trade an ohana room with others, for free.
Sadly, yes, I am priced out. The costs skyrocketed, and trips to Hawaii are now just too expensive for me as a retired person. I’m lucky to have experienced the islands so many times, but it’s sad not to return. At least I’ve got great memories.
This will be our last trip to Hawaii. Costs are too high—flights, condo, fees, added taxes. We may just have to stay at the condo and swim in the pool. Do they charge more for that too?
Please don’t give the Governor any new ideas-otherwise he will charge a tourism tax to any visitor, based on the visitor’s weight, to swim in their own condo pool (Daily!).
Complaining to elected officials when they know you don’t vote for them is pretty much a non-starter. The electeds will always cater to their voters, right? So making the bad tourists pay high taxes makes the voters feel good and the electeds look responsible.
The market will be the biggest bearer for change. People will let their pocketbook speak for themselves. No tourists, no high fees, no jobs. 🤷♀️
Count me in the group who this year abandoned our 2 trips to Hawaii Went to Tennessee and had a blast for a whole bunch less Last week a short drive to San Diego, also a great location and I still have $ left
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