A serious reckoning is coming about Hawaii’s reliance on tourism, starting with a reality check. Lacking even the most rudimentary alternative plan, the state will need the visitor industry as its principal economic engine for the foreseeable future.
It can’t be in the current uncontrolled state, however, because that is making a lot of pandemic- stressed residents frustrated.
This is not a winning strategy for anyone. Tourists shouldn’t have to contend with “take back the beach” placards, or with residents venting their anger in an even uglier way. Kamaaina can’t lose sight of the fact that the money from visitors does ripple through the islands, supporting even jobs that have no direct tourism connection.
For their part, residents should be able to have peace in their neighborhoods and reasonable access to the beaches and other natural resources.
Sadly, state leadership is falling down on two fronts. The issue of managing tourism has yielded little from the state Capitol other than a potential impediment: an ill-conceived proposal to slash the Hawaii Tourism Authority funding.
Going from bad to worse: The administration of Gov. David Ige has made little progress on the “Hawaii 2.0” resilience planning, one that he had heralded as a “reboot” and economic upgrade illuminating alternative growth areas to pursue.
House Speaker Scott Saiki said he was briefed in February and had been told there would be “an initial set of recommendations in early April.” That date came and went, Saiki said, adding that he heard from a source he would not disclose that the governor had canceled the initiative but had made no announcement.
The governor’s press secretary, Jodi Leong, responded to inquiries from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser with a statement that it is “too premature” to release information on the project, that there could be more information in a few weeks. Nonsense. The commitment to provide an update to lawmakers in April already was made.
This latest delay is only the latest twist in the story, which started in the early months of economic decline after the coronavirus outbreaks shuttered tourism. There had been first a battle over $10 million in federal dollars for a “navigator” office to plot the course to a reopened economy.
In the final analysis, after a year of opportunity to do this kind of brainstorming about Hawaii’s future, there’s little to show for it.
This was not some mere blip on the administration’s agenda. “Hawaii 2.0” was a key point in the governor’s “State of the State” address delivered in January, in which he spotlighted an expansion of broadband internet access and other elements of a “digital economy.”
He was light on details then; now the public merits an explanation and status report from Ige and from Mike McCartney, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Lawmakers have leaned on agencies such as the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization to help discern where pandemic aid would be most needed. There’s been no equivalent analysis and planning coming from the in-house agency the state really should be tapping for precisely this guidance: DBEDT.
This raises the twin concern over the proper direction for tourism in this state. The tourism authority, administratively part of DBEDT, is being hobbled not only by its parent agency but by key lawmakers.
Among them is state Sen. Glenn Wakai, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development and Tourism and is championing a proposal to chop the HTA appropriation from $79 million to $48 million.
That kind of blunt cut is sure to have unintended consequences, imperiling projects such as the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii (VASH), which has a laudable record of critical outreach to tourists. Senators should rethink what’s mission-critical to HTA and fund it accordingly.
About those priorities: Lawmakers criticizing HTA seem determined to refocus programs on marketing rather than on the new direction favored by its president and CEO, John De Fries.
De Fries rightly has protested in public testimony that marketing is just one of the four “pillars” he has defined as supporting the HTA’s strategy. The Senate plan would all but negate the relatively new but necessary emphasis on Hawaiian culture, natural resources and community.
These are exactly the components of Hawaii life that need attention now, as tourists come back. Visitors need to be enlisted in the mission of protecting the fragile environment. That means managing access to natural resources and awareness of the cultural and community sensitivities, while laying out the welcome mat.
And yes, fully formed ideas about making Hawaii less dependent on tourism are already long overdue. The pandemic should have taught everyone that.
Meanwhile, bureaucratic paralysis and political turf wars at the Capitol must give way to clear reasoning. The public needs a guiding hand on tourism from policymakers, not a shoving match.
