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.
The laws of supply and demand apply in Hawaii just as anywhere else. Nobody is raising prices to the detriment of their businesses. So, if you want someone to blame, it’s all the people either richer than you, or more willing than you to spend their limited money on a trip to Hawaii. It does appear Maui is bumping up against the maximum prices they can charge but they are just doing what anyone in their position will do. That’s true of the government too – they charge more tax because they can.
Supply and demand aren’t really laws, and only apply if there aren’t motivations or pressures outside of profit. In San Francisco, office space prices have been kept artificially high, despite high vagrancy rates, so that the value of real estate on paper is higher, allowing companies to apply for larger loans. S&D is just a simplistic model that captures a non-insignificant amount of activity.
Quit paying it. I see people state soaring prices but still continue to travel Who wins the hotel. Do you ever notice on National walk to work day that gas prices go down 5-10 cents a gallon. Same thing. Now that tourists are down in Maui didn’t people comment on some hotels offering discounts to fill the occupancy issues. Same thing. Prices will never go down until the demand for tourists goes up.
You should try holidaying in Hawaii traveling from New Zealand. A poor dollar and $1300 insurance cost. Getting well beyond reach for most Kiwis.
Too many people and limited resources equals higher prices.
Even politicians can’t change the law of supply and demand.
I asked a local one time when I was riding the bus back from the north shore. “How can anyone afford to live and reside here? She replied most residents she knows gets disability, state disability, state housing assistance or has won some sort of lawsuit settlement. IMO this might be why the state requests all the taxes and fees with tourists and STR owners wondering where is all the tax money going?
Hawaii’s Unemployment Insurance is also lucrative, but as of 2023 upside down by over $500,000.000! Going back to the 1980’s, the homeless lived under the bridges on the Nimitz, going to Honolulu. Sadly, in Waikiki, the Foodland is just off Princess Kaiulani and Kuhio, matters not, any time of the day, barefoot vagrants walk the street, open sores on their bodies, and then Governor Ige did nothing, this just blocks from their most prestigious Steakhouse, Hy’s. Their Covid Relief Subsidies were still being paid long into 2023, which had people’s incomes artificially doubling, even after Lockdown.
We have been coming to Hawaii once or twice a year since 2008. Nothing has increased like the price of the hotels. Many rooms are more than double of pre-Covid prices on Maui and the Big Island. There was a nice dip in late 2019 and 2020, but since then it’s just skyrocketed. We will be back this November, but if this pricing trend continues, we have to question if we can afford to return next year.
The best way to complain is to stay away.
Eventually they will get the message.
Its part of the plan raise everything creates less visitors to the islands yet the states income remains close to the same…
Aloha Jeff & Rob-
I would think as residents you two would have a better perspective than most of us about whether the aloha spirit is fading. I am a frequent visitor to your island and have noticed a bit of this but not too much. What do you think?
thanks
This is a simple case of supply and demand. Hawaii as a destination is a limited commodity and people/companies/government will charge whatever they can to maximize profits. That results in lower demand. It is all driven by consumers. Enough consumers leave and the prices will be adjusted down to the point that it maximizes profits.