Tourism, Hawaii’s major industry, is facing major economic hurdles. One is caused by sea level rise that causes beach erosion. Another is the loss of tax income to the state and to the counties as visitor counts decline.

To understand why we need to address these problems, we can look back at the 2008 Great Recession. This national recession caused a major drop in visitors to Hawaii, thus causing a huge drop in tax income to the state and counties.

In 2008, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau looked at what are our state’s main attractions that draw visitors. The three reasons given most often were the weather, the beaches and the aloha spirit.

To solve the current drop in tourism, the state must do all that it can to promote these three vital assets, and to preserve them for our future.

Bob Hampton

Hawaii Kai

>> Contact: 529-4831 (phone), letters@staradvertiser.com, staradvertiser.com/editorial/submit-letter