KAHULUI >> A vibrant rainbow burst from the clouds as Kamalei and Cierra Kawa‘a performed at the Haleki‘i-Pihana Heiau — the first stop on a tour of historical and cultural sites on Maui during the 22nd annual Native Hawaiian Convention in a showcase of what regenerative tourism looks and feels like from a Native Hawaiian perspective.

It was a deeply intimate moment as tour guide Luana Kawa‘a introduced bus passengers to her son, Kamalei, his wife, Cierra, and their child. The family shared their love for their Hawaiian culture and for their home — the coastal neighborhood of Paukukalo in Wailuku. Their desire is to give back by helping people to see their home from the eyes of the people who live there.

Tour guests said that the ancestors were blessing their visit to the 10-acre park and state monument, where vistas of Iao Stream, Kahului Bay, Wailuku Plain and Paukukalo Hawaiian homestead were covered in a light sparkle from rain and mist.

But as the bus pulled away and navigated through the Paukukalo neighborhood, there were reminders of the community divisions that modern-day tourism brings. Luana Kawa‘a spotted her father, who lives in Paukukalo’s Hawaiian homestead community — giving the bus “stink eye” as he spotted it on his drive home.

“I’m going to have some explaining to do,” Luana Kawa‘a said.

The curated tour sought to define regenerative tourism and provide proof that it can benefit communities, said Tyler Gomes, chief administrator of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s tourism division, called Kilohana by CNHA.

Tours like the one during the CNHA convention last week can provide work for local community experts, musicians, hula dancers and other artisans, as well as opportunities to highlight local small businesses either through stops along the way or through gift bags stuffed with their products.

A turning point

Regenerative tourism also provides a chance to malama, or take care of, places. A stop at the Hale Ho‘ike‘ike at the Bailey House, which is owned and operated by the Maui Historical Society, was poignant given its growing importance as the keeper of Maui’s history. More than a dozen cultural landmarks and historic structures were gutted in the Aug. 8 Lahaina wildfire and surviving artifacts remain at risk.

Mondy Jamshidi-Kent, a principal at Naupaka Pacific, said “having been part of leading the regenerative movement for the past five years, I was honored to be invited to be a part of what felt like history in the making.”

She said the curated bus tour and other efforts in regenerative tourism represent a turning point for the determination and welfare of Hawaii’s people. Jamshidi-Kent praised advances made by Kilohana, CNHA, the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association and Hawaii Tourism Authority, which over the past three years is also Hawaiian-led.

She said the bus tour had a taste of regenerative, but was not perfect in terms of sustainability; though progress should not be measured by only one snapshot at a time.

“The question for me as a practitioner and teacher of regenerative tourism: Did this trip leave Hawaii better than we found it? Does it recall a plus sign in the equation of what would otherwise be extractivism? It remains to be seen,” Jamshidi-Kent said. “The surprise goodies we received hint at this. They were locally sourced, manufactured directly from Maui with healthy ingredients, (which) reinforced the theme of ohana and supporting mom and pop operators that circulate dollars to local families. It was definitely heartfelt and delivered with intention. How generous and intimate it is to be invited into someone’s world and ohana.”

Stewardship role

The tour highlighted the importance of CNHA’s role as a Hawaii Tourism Authority contractor in charge of stewardship services. The multiyear $27 million award to Kilohana was HTA’s first contract for stewardship services, and follows years of efforts to improve the way that residents feel about the visitor industry by pivoting to a more sustainable and regenerative tourism model.

First, HTA adopted a strategic plan in 2022 that measures success not just by visitor arrival numbers but by a combination of daily and overall visitor spending, visitor satisfaction and the sentiment of residents. HTA then worked with communities to form destination management action plans, or DMAPs, which provide road maps for managing tourism on each island.

“Decreasing the total number of visitors to Oahu to a manageable level by controlling the number of visitor accommodations and exploring changes to land use, zoning and airport policies” is the top priority in the HTA-approved DMAP for Oahu, which gets a majority of Hawaii’s visitor arrivals.

The plan also aims to attract more respectful visitors by implementing a pre- and post-arrivals communication program and developing marketing campaigns to attract “positive-impact travelers who prioritize the environment, culture and investing in our local community.”

CNHA is now working toward those Oahu goals, and similar ones on other islands, especially Maui — which has experienced sharp declines in tourism since the devastating firestorm in which at least 100 people perished.

Moving the Native Hawaiian Convention to Maui provided CNHA with a way to show stewardship there by responding to immediate community needs after the disaster, and by leading discussions that shape the future of Lahaina. The devastation in Lahaina provides the community with an opportunity to reinvent itself much like the north shore of Kauai, which was closed to tourists for a year after a devastating 2018 flood and then reopened in 2019 with new tourism rules.

The future of tourism

The bus tour followed the conference’s tourism session, which kicked off with a keynote address from Hawaii Tourism Authority Chairman Blaine Miyasato. A tourism panel, moderated by Gomes, next explored how community, industry and government leaders envision using local engagement and cultural preservation to shape the future of the industry. Panelists included HTA Vice Chairperson Mahina Paishon; HTA Chief Brand Officer Kalani Ka‘ana‘ana; Kawika Freitas, director of public and cultural relations for the Old Lahaina Luau; and Joe Ibarra, general manager of the Kahala Hotel & Resort.

Paishon said she serves as HTA’s vice chairperson “for our community to have an additional entryway to shape and inform and influence an important authority that has a specific kuleana: We need to get overtourism in control.”

When asked about the future of Hawaii tourism, Paishon’s thoughts turned first to Maui. She said in 10 years she expected to see, “Lahaina as a shining example for how this community came together. Our extended ohana locked arms and supported our Lahaina warriors, educators, healers, community members, to uplift a regenerative tourism model that is tangibly supporting the aina, the restoration of wai, supporting kanaka-led businesses.”

Paishon then discussed the future of tourism statewide.

“In 10 years, tourism will not be the driver of our economy. We will have a more diversified economy,” she said. “But tourism has a responsibility to support revenue that can help to increase diversification in other sectors.”

Paishon later told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the community feels there are too many visitors, and has been calling for diversification of Hawaii’s economy. She said there is a perception and feeling in the community that tourism is extractive.

“I’m in favor of looking at a business model that will reduce the total volume of visitors, but will maintain or increase the total economic contribution to the state and also allocate more dollars toward the support of pono conservation over aina and of our cultural vibrancy,” she said. “I believe in the pivot toward regenerative tourism — that’s where we all align.”

Paishon added, “Many of the DMAP plans and strategies call for marketing to a more mindful traveler, less volume and more quality experiences that command a higher price point.”

Paul Brewbaker, principal of TZ Economics, said it’s important to note that tourism isn’t responsible for diversifying the economy, and it doesn’t have to get smaller for economic diversification to occur. Moreover, he said economic history shows that Hawaii’s per capita income has been stronger during economic phases when the change in real tourism receipts was above zero. For example, from the 1960s to the 1990s, the postwar growth of Hawaii tourism meant that the change in what he called real tourism receipts was greater than zero. Brewbaker said this phase was associated with a Hawaii per capita income that was higher than the national average, he said.

“Territorial and state officials meant to establish a new stream of export revenues, exploiting an emerging new technology — post-war commercial aviation technology — and the emerging political validation of Hawaii’s status, earned the hard way by leadership on the ground and in the air and at sea in world war and its aftermath, attendant to statehood in 1959,” Brewbaker said.

He said a clampdown on resort development from the 1990s to now resulted in a phase where the change in real tourism receipts was equal to zero. He said this phase has been associated with regression of Hawaii per capita income to the national norm.

He said a third phase where the change in real tourism receipts is less than zero now appears to be emerging.

“Arguably the political-economic momentum in Hawaii has shifted in the 2020s towards absolute decline of tourism: This is not a prediction, and there is no way to make a forecast, but it is my expectation based on what I see from official channels today,” Brewbaker said.

He said if the change in real tourism receipts is less than zero, the risk is that it will be associated with either continued erosion of the negative Hawaii-U.S. per capita income differential, or persistence of its deficit before taking into account cost of living differentials.

Brewbaker said another school of thought is to grow tourism with “more dollars, not more visitors.”

While many have long advocated for the concept, it has never happened systematically, he said.

Miyasato, who grew up in a tourism family and worked his way up from being a Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant to the airline’s managing director of state and local government affairs, said he sees regenerative tourism as the ideal model, and quality of life as its most important measure.

“A lot of people who come here to Hawaii and leave have a relationship with this place. Many, many, many of them — and that’s why they come back,” he said. “I don’t know that the number (of visitors) is relevant if the quality of life for the people who live in neighborhoods, and provide the services, and who drive on the roads — if all of that is sort of balanced then the number becomes irrelevant.”