In Hawaii, Reimagining Tourism for a Post-Pandemic World

[Klaralven]

...

And yet, according to one survey by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the agency charged with promoting Hawaii around the world, about two-thirds of Hawaiians say they still do not want tourists to return to the islands.

“Before the pandemic, tourism was at this point where everything was about tourists,” said Lindsey Ozawa, a farmer and chef in He’eia on Oahu. “Tourism had become extractive and hurtful, with tourists coming here and taking, taking, taking, taking, without any reciprocation with locals.”

Mr. Ozawa’s frustrations are felt by people beyond the Pacific, in popular destinations like Machu Picchu, Venice, Barcelona and Iceland, where residents bemoan inconsiderate travelers, damage to natural resources, overcrowding and the rising cost of housing because of short-term rentals created for tourists.

In those places, as in Hawaii, the screeching halt in travel after the World Health Organization’s March 11 declaration of a pandemic provided a moment to reimagine and reconfigure tourism. Without visitors running amok, institutions, government agencies and individuals who work in the travel industry or are touched by it have been searching for ways to change a sector that many describe as a necessary evil or an addictive drug from which destinations need to wean themselves.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/07/travel/hawaii-covid-tourism.html

[kcr]

1. The number one thing on the list should be curtailing cruise ships

Followed by housing regulations limiting short-term rentals.

[Klaralven]

2. Short term rentals probably put more money in the local economy

than do mega-hotels for tourists owned by foreign investors and operated by international hotel chains.

But it's probably the amount of short term rentals that's the problem.

[kcr]

3. How do you figure?

At least the hotels create jobs. Short-term rentals make housing unaffordable.

[Klaralven]

6. Short term rental income goes to the local owner or sub-lessor

The owner either does the maintenance and operations themselves, or they hire it done from the local community.

The guest eats in local restaurants, or shops for supplies in the local stores.

It may reduce housing availability temporarily, but it provides an incentive to build more housing as well, which increases the housing supply in the long run.

The building of hotels and resorts doesn't really increase the housing supply. And with hotels, all the profits, interest on debt, etc goes back off-shore.

[kcr]

7. It doesn't reduce housing temporarily

And zoning often prevents new housing, particularly in tourist-heavy areas. Hotels don't increase housing supply, but they don't affect the housing market the way air-bnb does.

[Yavin4]

10. Most tourist heavy cities slap special taxes on hotels.

So, short term rentals kills that tax resource.

[Hekate]

4. The number one thing on the list is getting in sustainable jobs that are not about tourists...

Many of my high school classmates from O’ahu (1965) left for better opportunities elsewhere, and as far as I could tell on my few trips back, opportunities just really never got better for many folks who remained.

By 1990, 25 years later, where was the IT industry, that could operate from anywhere? Not in Hawai’i. By 2015, my cohort was mostly retired, but job prospects in that market were no better.

Someone finally twigged to the lack last year as the pandemic shutdown really began to bite, and my husband got word that someone there was asking for people to come teach subjects related to IT. Well, hubby is 74 and taught Computer Information Systems at our local community college for 22 years before retiring and getting hired back into the industry, where he remains, working with people across the globe from his home office. So he was interested. But the terms were not all that well thought out — the sponsoring agency (whoever they were) would pay his way there and I think there was a very small offset for housing, but basically you were expected to volunteer teach a couple of days a week and support yourself while there.

Hawai’i needs to start up a robust community college program in conjunction with a locally-based jobs program. The raw talent is there — it’s just all being sucked into servicing hotels and activities for tourists, with little competition.

[kcr]

8. Agreed

I think it would be easier to do once you unhook the tourism industry. Loose their claws and allow some breathing room. It's become harder to do when tourism has become the outsized monster in so many communities.

[Hekate]

5. The entire article is worth reading to the end

The different strategies are very interesting

[RealityChik]

9. As a 30-yr Hawaii ex-pat...

Perhaps I can shed some light...
The Airbnb/vacation rental industry has literally KILLED rental availability throughout the islands. Why hassle with renters, leases, etc for $800 per month on your converted garage to studio apt, when you can charge $1250+ per week as a vacation rental!

Rents are through the roof there, with huge housing shortages. In short, the locals can't even afford to live in their home state anymore!

Unlike the US mainland, building out more housing is not much of an option cuz there's very little room to spare for more housing. The only island with lots of room is the Big Island of Hawaii. But with a volcano in your back yard, the risk of losing your home to Madame Pele (Goddess of Fire, aka lava) is always a constant worry.

Adding insult to injury, wages are about 35% lower there, so all the higher education in the world is unlikely to result in a livable income without a second source to supplement. That's why so many of us leave.

With regard to sustainability, Hawaii ranks near or at the top of the nation in sustainability efforts. The limited space and natural resources are prime motivation for finding innovative ways to make use of everything you have.

Solutions to the problems of tourism are ongoing and challenging. Change is slow. Even without the tourists, living there is complicated. With so many cultural differences to consider, reaching governing consensus remains a challenge. Always will.

I suppose like everything else in our world, it all comes down to money with too many people on 8 tiny islands fighting for their piece of the pie, or in Hawaii's case--fighting for their own piece of guava cake. I miss living there with all my heart, but sometimes reality bites.

Aloha nui loa.

[Hekate]

12. Thx for the input. Like you, even after all these years I miss it like crazy. nt

[DFW]

11. It's always a trade-off

I haven‘t been back go Hawai‘i in years, or Iceland in decades, but I go down to Barcelona regularly, was just there Monday and Tuesday. Frankly, I‘m even enjoying the unchoked streets, the lack of street hustlers trying to sell me trinkets or pick my pockets. This is getting back to the old Barcelona where I lived as a teenager. I know one guy from NYC who moved to Zürich to marry his Swiss girlfriend. They visited Barcelona on a vacation and fell in love with it to the point that they opened an affiliate of the company they work for, learned Spanish, and are both taking evening Catalan classes.

The quality of life in these places is sometimes in direct proportion to the level of tourism, but sometimes in inverse proportion to tourism. Not every solution is ideal for everyone.