Hawaii appears to be moving toward passage of a ‘visitor impact fee’ that would be charged to each visitor checking into a hotel or short-term rental in the island state.
If passed, it would be the first attempt by any U.S. state to impose such a fee, although it is not uncommon for some countries, including a number of other Pacific island destinations to do so, or for cities and states to add taxes to hotel bills for a variety of purposes.
The push to impose a fee to cover costs of the impact of tourism on the islands’ environment has gained steam especially since last summer’s wildfires in the Maui community of Lahaina.
The Hawaii Senate is considering a re-introduced bill that would set the fee at $50, while the lower House has held hearings on a measure that would set it at $25 per person. There has been significant public support for the measures, although some tourism industry groups have expressed worry that a fee that charged a family of four $100 or $200 to visit might send business elsewhere.
From Australia everywhere is far away so neither distance nor taxes deter us. We are a revenue collector’s dream!
Anyone who has visited Hawaii knows it to be an extremely expensive destination. Hotels and condo rentals are among the highest in the country, food needs to be imported so it’s much more than you’d pay on the mainland, same with car rentals, etc. etc. This tax won’t bring in much revenue into total compared to the sales taxes collected from tourists and will only serve to hurt tourism in a state where it’s so vital to the economy.
In parts of Europe where such fees are charged, they tend to be on a per-night and per-person basis – they are typically of the order of a couple of Euros p.p.n.. For longer stays the cost is often offset by discounts on visiting certain attractions or benefits in kind (e.g. a bottle of wine if you stay a week). As a result, visitors generally do not resent the fees.
Hawaii is very beautiful, but one of the most remote and hard to get to destinations on the planet. For example, I know of few Europeans who have visited because of how far it is and the many options they have much closer to home.
Hawaii would be much smarter to hide the tax as a smaller nightly room tax, as you discuss professor. For a family of 5 or 6, on top of flights, accommodations, etc. it might be the deciding factor for them to go elsewhere.
To be honest, I’ve paid many of these fees without noticing as they are most often rolled into hotel and short-term rental fees under ‘taxes’ and the like, and none were so large as to enter my planning. In fact, the one time I noticed was when a host in Berlin two years ago was able to offer me exemption from the tourism tax because I was traveling on (TravelGumbo) business!
While it is true that there should be a balance between what tourism contributes to an economy and what it costs, and there is sometimes real justification for these fees, there is also a tendency in some places to regard tourism as a golden goose that can be milked (mixed metaphor!) for whatever it can. And nowhere is that more true than in the absolutely rapacious concept in the U.S. of ‘resort fees’ charged by hotels.
Far better a few bucks for local government than huge added profits for hotel chains!