Tourism, The Economic View

Tourism has always been a part of Hawaii, with designated areas for tourists, but sometimes locals don’t realize how dependent Hawaii is on Tourism. Tourism comprises almost a quarter of Hawaii’s whole economy. It has supported Hawaii since America’s military was established  and has continued supporting Hawaii today. Tourism provides not only income, but also jobs for many locals to make a living. More and more tourists come to Hawaii every year and yet Hawaii today collects the same revenue. Meaning that Hawaii is doing more work and more work as time goes on to make the same result. For Hawaii to keep producing the same results today, more and more tourists will have to enter the Island year after year. 

Tourism has affected much of Hawaii’s environment and local life. Many residents' satisfaction dropped with visitor numbers high and  tourism's negative impact on the environment. As Hawaii is home to many native species, and as tourism increases, many species get closer and closer to extinction. Land is destroyed for hotels and more people cause an increase in pollution. Tourism supports our economy, yet at the expense of the environment. 

Without tourism, Hawaii would be almost bankrupt. Tourism has supported almost 216,00 jobs statewide and by 2019, 10 million tourists will come to Hawaii per year, over 7 times the population of Hawaii. One of the jobs most impacted includes those related to hotels. Hotels in Hawaii have a 79% occupancy rate. Hawaii has over $17.8 billion in visitor spending and visitor arrivals percentage in 2021 raised almost 150.3%, which is three times more compared to 2020. Tourists contribute to over $2 billion of the island's tax revenue in this way. 

In 2019, visitors in Oahu spent $22.4 million a day, visitors in Maui spent $14 million a day, on the Island of Hawaii $6.4 million a day,  and on Kaua’i $5.2 million a day. Tourism takes up about 20% of Hawaii’s economy. In 1989 Hawaii made $4.56 billion with 1.67 million tourists, yet in 2018 Hawaii made $4.58 billion with 2.44 million tourists. This shows that although there are more people coming to Hawaii, they are still making the same revenue. 

As many businesses rely on tourism, an employee of Hawaiian Airlines, Alex DaSilva, was interviewed on how much tourists really affect their business.  In the first year of the pandemic, Hawaiian Airlines had a  $511 million net loss. Alex stated that in “march of this year, nearly 900,000 visitors arrived in Hawaii by air service,” and these visitors spent about $1.84 billion. This supports many local businesses, generates tax revenue that funds schools, roads, hospitals, and other essential infrastructure. Alex states, “Last year . . . nearly 10 million passengers were transported, and this allowed us to support nearly one-third of the state’s 128,000 tourism-related jobs and generate more than $600 million in Hawaii state tax revenue.” 

DaSilva states that “visitors are indispensable contributors to Hawaii”, saying how reliant we are on them. Many people supported tourism and the pandemic makes it evident how much we rely on tourism. Hawaii’s economy overall during the pandemic resulted in a 150.3% loss. In the 2024 forecast, Hawaii is expected to make up only 40% of this back. Hawaii’s economy is slowly recovering from the pandemic through tourism and has helped Hawaiii to get back on their feet. Baron Kaholokula, an expert in Hawaii's history who teaches Hawaiian History at Damien Memorial, has said that there has been real progress for tourists to learn about the islands and why it is important. Kaholokula has stated that, “There is a delicate balance between maintaining Hawaii’s economy and keeping our island in the way our kupuna hoped. We need tourism to survive in Hawaii, there is no going back to agriculture, there is almost no turning back to the older system. Simply because of how dependent Hawaii has become on tourism.” 

 Many tourists arrive in Hawaii at the expense of locals, some say that unless Hawaii manages tourism, residents will end up suffering the consequences. It’s a step forward to working alongside tourism instead of against it. Ecotourism, which is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education. 

The Hawaii Tourism Authority has been working with these programs to help educate visitors that come to Hawaii to understand why the island is important and why it is sacred to many locals here. Many tours in Hawaii consist of marine tours to explore the native fish and coral reefs around the island. This, however, results in endangering many of the native species here, with Hawaii Authority working alongside tourists to keep our island safe and have tourists enjoy their vacation. The pandemic opened the eyes of how peaceful it was in Hawaii without tourism, yet Hawaii’s economy needs tourism.

Hawaii consists of a delicate balance between the environment and the economy. In 1835 the first sugar mill was built, and that product was what Hawaii’s economy supported. This ended up redirecting water and changing the land. This harmed many of those in Hawaii who relied on water, those being kalo farmers. Hawaii then turned from sugar, to military and tourism-based economies. 

Tourism is still important today but there are many other industries that the state of Hawaii could invest in to protect the economy. Some of these industries would still cause negative impacts to Hawaii's ecosystem. One being the seed industry, where they would deal with genetically modified organisms,or GMOs. Kaholokula states, “Problem is that all the seeds you've grown in Hawaii are genetically modified. So now you're running into a moral issue if we are going to return to an agriculture industry . . . does that mean we are promoting GMO?” GMO crops are modified to select for certain traits or to improve the plant’s defenses against pests.. 

The other industry is the military that is still present in Hawaii. Issues with the military can correlate to Kaho’olawe, where they would use it as a bombing target and practice for military uses. This harmed much of the environment of Kaho’olawe, and turned the top of the island red until it has started to slowly recover from protests to give back the island. Another issue is Red Hill in Oahu, harming the environment more than tourists through chemicals. Another example is Pearl Harbor where many of the ships that were bombed in 1941 had leakage spills and affected the aquatic environment around it. Another issue is in Makua Valley where they would use that area as a training ground along with a site for live fire and amphibious training. This is the same issue with all the military has done in Hawaii regarding the land and keeping it safe and protected. Although the military supports Hawaii’s economy, they haven’t supported much of the environment around them. 

Hawaii is considered a paradise and for many locals and visitors it definitely is. Hawaii has a unique ecosystem along with their unique location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The economy of Hawaii relies on tourism and learning the balance for both the island and the economy will benefit Hawaii and allow it to continue growing. As many businesses, such as Hawaiian Airlines, rely on tourists, we depend on them but also need to learn to work with them. Although there are many other industries for Hawaii to go through, tourism has its negative and positives but has supported Hawaii in the long run.