KAT WADE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR ADVERTISER
Mary Lavoie, left, joined vacation rental advocates and small-business owners Thursday at a news conference and protest to oppose proposals to rein in vacation rentals.
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I find the major premise of Allison Schaefers’ recent article misleading (“Vacation rental guests contributing less to Hawaii tourism economy,” Star-Advertiser, June Opens in a new tab10) Opens in a new tab.
Although the total daily spending is listed as $234, $186 and $179 for hotel, B&B and rental house categories, respectively, this includes the cost of lodging as the biggest category.
Expensive hotel lodging is perhaps the largest reason visitors want to stay at alternative housing. If you remove that cost item, the daily spending is not that different. It becomes $119, $109 and $94 respectively.
If you consider that all of the lodging money spent on B&Bs and rental houses stays in Hawaii — as compared to the money paid to hotels — I believe that using these Hawaii Tourism Authority numbers alone, you can conclude that more money stays in the local economy with alternative housing than with hotel stays.
Ernest Shih
Kuliouou
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