Having lived in Hawaii nearly 40 years, I have seen the endless contradictions and failure to address underlying problems. Instead of embracing a plan to collect valuable tax revenues from vacation rentals, we have failed to address the deeper issue, which is the driver behind Airbnb’s popularity in Hawaii.

The reality is that there are “illegal” vacation rentals. This has become part of our culture, and we need to address this reality in a constructive way, enabling access to important tax revenues to fund our schools and pay for parks and other community resources. Instead of making Airbnb the bogeyman, this should be a wake-up call to address what visitors really want: “authentic” cultural experiences and a Hawaii sense of place.

Visitors have a need to “experience” the real culture of the community they visit. They want an experience living with or near a local family to feel the culture, or sense of place.

Does one really believe that visitors think Waikiki — with its “high end” shops and lack of greenery — to be the cultural essence of Hawaii? Waikiki reflects Joni Mitchell’s song, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Not only do visitors want a “local” experience when they come to Hawaii, but “locals” seeks out Airbnb when they visit the neighbor islands for vacation.

Recently, Eric Gill, who represents the hotel workers union, alleged that Airbnb rentals are taking away from the need for housing for local residents. This is wrongly making Airbnb the bogeyman for the problem of housing. Go to Craigslist in the beginning of the month and search for “Studio on Oahu.” You will find over 100 listings for rentals on Oahu.

In fact, Airbnb has a relatively small presence in Hawaii, as an Airbnb survey (summer 2015-February 2016) recently corroborated. This study confirmed that most hosts are long-time residents who supplement their income to make ends meet in order to avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes; the number of vacation rentals increased by only 4 percent between 2009-14.

Instead of blaming Airbnb for taking visitors away from the hotels, we should take a realistic view of how to increase visitor presence in Waikiki. The answer is to create a Hawaii sense of place. Just imagine if Kalakaua Avenue was turned into a pedestrian walkway, which allowed for one lane on each side of the avenue for trucks to enter and exit driveways. In between the lanes, the walkway would be full of grass, greenery, flowers, palm and ficus trees, Hawaiian cultural and shave ice kiosks, food trucks, benches, manmade waterfalls and a bicycle lane. This would drive tourists and locals back to Waikiki to experience old-time Hawaii.

To get a sense of what old-time Hawaii feels like, take a walk along the Moanalua Valley trail in the back of the valley. The trail meanders for 11 miles, with historical markers of kamaaina families that lived there in bygone days, including the Dole family. This is a real cultural experience: walking on the train tracks among the gigantic palm trees and overgrown foliage, which embody the essence of Hawaii. One can even see a downed Japanese aircraft. One can walk and feel the mana of the ancestral heartbeat of a time gone by when horse and buggy were everywhere, along with a vibrant Hawaiian culture.

This is the experience that visitors are seeking, and if they can’t get it in Waikiki, then they will seek it out via living with and alongside locals in the community.

Bruce Berger is a licensed mental health, certified rehabilitation and substance abuse counselor.