Talk of tourism management often dissolves into a litany of “can’t.”
We can’t close the state to visitors when the islands get too crowded.
We can’t keep airlines from selling more seats or hotels from filling their rooms.
We can’t impose a fee on tourists just to enter Hawaii, due to constitutional law.
This free country/free enterprise thing is complicated.
Still, rising above all is a simple truth: Hawaii’s natural resources can’t take the strain of 10 million visitors annually, unabated. That number was reached before the pandemic and we appear headed to hit it again in just a few years. If we can’t stop the wave, we have to figure out how to protect the very natural beauty that makes people want to come to Hawaii in the first place.
Pandemic travel restrictions bought us some time. Not only did it show us how a resource such as Hanauma Bay can rebound when humans leave it alone, it allowed for building an online reservation system that controls access and charges nonresidents a $25 per person entrance fee.
More of that, please.
No one would say Hawaii is an inexpensive place for a vacation, but in some ways we have sold ourselves too cheap. Many of our most beautiful and popular spots have long been open to all, free for looking at, hiking upon, swimming in. This access has helped Hawaii become the golden destination that it is, but reality bites — in this case, the reality that overuse can ruin a place.
Less of that, please.
In some ways, what Hawaii needs is rebranding, a focus less on fun in the sun, more on appreciating the history and culture that built this place, and the consideration it takes to maintain its beauty. We’d be welcoming guests with an invitation to share in caring for the land.
It’s esoteric, yes, but it would upgrade the visitor experience, especially valuable with contemporary “green” travelers who want more than to merely power their way to the top of Diamond Head in order to grab a selfie and check a box on their must-see list.
That’s one prong of several needed in this strategy of tourism management. Also needed are ways to limit access to overused sites, while generating funds for maintenance, protection and in general mitigating the effects of all that visitation.
A number of public sites have instituted fees and more state parks are in the process, but this isn’t practical at places such as trailheads that have no parking lot or entry gate. Worthy proposals have been floated that would help direct funds toward all destinations:
>> Mandatory hiking permits that come with fees used to maintain all trails and that come with education on safety and environmentally friendly trail use.
>> Sales of “green” passes that cover parking and admission to various sites with a single payment, with proceeds shared by free-access sites.
>> Resources — an app that could be sold, perhaps — that centralize information, reservations and payments.
>> Commit for eco-maintenance a portion of the tax dollars generated by the hefty base of Hawaii’s millions of tourists.
The recovery of our tourism industry will be gradual, offering just a bit of a reprieve that allows for coming to grips with numbers that will rebound all too soon. The Hawaii Tourism Authority’s 2021 Destination Management Action Plan laid out a number of bold ideas, with an implementation goal of 2024. It’s ambitious but necessary.
We don’t want visitors to face fees every time they turn around. We can’t let our state become so expensive that only the very rich can afford to share in its wonder. But we must protect our natural resources in ways that are effective and fair. There is nothing elitist about presenting ourselves as a place where we care about our land.
