As the video above shows - the tourist demographic in Hawaii has changed dramatically. Japanese visitors were the lifeblood of Hawaii tourism with the average visitor coming for half as long and spending twice as much.
Obviously with the Japanese economy in sharp decline, the yen weak against the dollar, and the ongoing issues with visas and tariffs and fear - that has changed.
This article points out some of the issues: https://beatofhawaii.com/hawaii-visitor-whiplash-from-japans-decline-to-bright-opportunities/. It also suggests some areas that Hawai’i can focus on but in fact there are problems.
Having worked for a long while in Hawaii tourism, I can tell you that the issues are systemic and in my opinion, not fixable. Chinese visitors were an option that looked like they would fix the issue, but COVID and ongoing issues killed that opportunity.
Here is the biggest issue. The cost of living in Hawaii is extreme and tourism jobs offer bad pay in a job market that is already paying less than mainland wages and salaries. That’s called the ‘Paradise Tax’.
Here’s the unpopular truth: American tourists in Hawaii are universally known to be bottom tier tourists. Yes, there are wealthy Americans who spend big here but they are a minority. They were the demographic that I worked with when I lived here. The majority of American tourists are lower middle class, budget conscious, and trying to squeeze every penny of value they can out of their over-priced one or two week trip to Hawaii. The money they do spend largely goes to corporations that are not based in Hawaii and do not benefit local people. They are high impact in terms of noise and crowds, they are demanding, and they are generally not very good tourists in terms of their spend versus their impact. In tipping jobs, they are viewed as one tier above no-tippers and often end tours where guides rely on tips with a handshake and a “you sure are lucky to live here”.
They rarely book small tours or locally owned experiences. They book cheap package tours mostly owned by big corporations. The environmental impact is high on those tours.
Regulation is another issue. The regulations favor big business or ‘cowboys’ those who conduct tours or business illegally. Legit small operators get hit hard.
All of this does something else: local people are economically pressed hard. That makes it hard to bring an aura of ‘aloha’. The vibes are suffering. Also, when American visitors arrive and the demographics on the beach and in the hotel are west Florida centric (Americans - white, black, Latino) and the beaches are the same because Asian visitor numbers are so low, and local people are all working so that they can pay exorbitant rent and feed the families with insane grocery costs.
So if it looks like a Carolina, Texas, Alabama, or Florida beach town demographic but has a more expensive and longer flight and costs you three times as much for food or hotel - and the aloha isn’t flowing and the exotic flavor of the place is gone - why would you go? And if you do go - you will probably feel cheap and then not return.
So- Hawaii has a big problem. It was something that many in the tourism industry tried to address during the pandemic reset but which the tourism authorities ignored. Instead they focus on getting more and more people, lowering the cost of package tours, and demeaning the quality of life for both locals and tourists in the process.
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