The big business for state tourism officials is usually to get more visitors in, and show them what the state has to offer. Hawaii has always been successful at that, but now the Hawaii Tourism Authority has taken on a new task: Convincing Hawaiians that that’s a good thing.
With 8.6 million visitors last year—capping 4 years in a row of records—due to successful promotion, increased flights and continuing popularity both with Americans and Asians, the tourist impact on the islands is spreading out from the usual tourist areas, such as Waikiki.
Visitors increasingly follow online reviews to restaurants and areas they might never have found, and stay in short-term rentals with Airbnb and others in neighborhoods away from the tourist areas. That’s launched a sort of backlash among people who argue that the agency should stand for more than promoting tourism, and should consider the long-term effects of growth.
In the meantime, the Authority has begun running a series of campaigns aimed at locals, reminding how important tourism is. An agency official dismisses the complaints: “it’s just a tendencey for people to start complaining. And so the thing is, let’s remind everybody again.”
And that’s what the agency is doing, starting with a video showing a local star chef talking about his and relatives’ jobs in restaurants, in resort construction and more, with the tag “Take care of tourism. It’s a family business.”
For more detail on this issue from Japan Today, click HERE
Photo: Waiting in line at Pearl Harbor: How many visitors is too many?
