Lee Cataluna: What Gradual Restoration To Tourism?

Do you remember when people talked about using this opportunity to rethink tourism?

Yes, I said it too. This idea turned out to be so naive it was ridiculous.

The thought of reducing tourism to a manageable level that restores tranquility in the neighborhoods, the health of the streets and access to the beaches requires that tourism be under Hawaii’s control. It is clearly not.

There was no slow reopening of tourism. It was more like a dam of pent-up demand that broke through and inundated all of the quiet surf spots and uncrowded trails. Suddenly Maui’s beaches are overcrowded, rental cars are hard to come by, and swarms of tourists line up to buy truckloads of groceries from the neighborhood markets to fill the kitchens of their vacation rentals.

There didn’t have to be a marketing campaign. There didn’t have to be any special offers on flight and hotel room packages. There didn’t have to be fairs. It turns out there is an insatiable thirst for Hawaii and no one needs to be convinced to come here. Despite the success the American economy suffered during the pandemic, people still have the money to fly across the ocean, buy margarita mix in Foodland, and spread their lounge chairs on the sand in Kaanapali.

More visitors arrive at Waikiki Beach and other places in Hawaii every day. Cory Lum / Civil Beat

Controlling, managing, or resetting tourism is about as possible as resetting Kilauea Volcano. Sure, it would be nice to train the lava to erupt on a schedule and only in appropriate areas, but that won’t happen. Tourism is much less impressive, but it is also an indomitable force. It spreads across the country and goes where it wants without being limited by fences and signs or “awareness campaigns”. We can only react. The only choice is to get out of the way, get run over, or try to take advantage of it, even if it destroys so many things in its path.

There were serious concerns that tourism would be slow to recover even after the vaccines were distributed. Boy, were those worries out of place. You practically knock the door down.

The situation is all the more dramatic as the months of the relatively quiet Hawaiian residents were enjoyed in the months of travel restrictions. That was really nice

So what can be done? The Hawaii Tourism Authority recently released a tourism management plan that discussed “regenerative tourism” as a new model for the Hawaiian visitor industry.

The introduction to the report states:

“About 15 years ago the model for ‘sustainable tourism’ was introduced, which is based on environmentally friendly, culturally sensitive tourism and has less impact than a high number of visitors …

“Regenerative tourism goes a step further and focuses on the net benefits of the visitor economy for a destination, taking into account the social and cultural benefits and costs. Regenerative tourism is bolder and more inspiring. It aims not only to do less damage, but to restore the damage our system has already done to the natural world and, by applying the principles of nature, create the conditions of life to thrive. It looks at the whole, not parts, and it’s a very different way of looking at the world. “

What does that mean anyway? Certainly some coastlines will not be restored by closing hotels. Certainly do not close shops that bring vans filled with visitors to small neighborhoods and off-road restricted areas. Certainly nothing that would mean that people who make money from tourism have to make less money.

The Strategic plan HTA 2020-2025 defines “goal management” to include actionable elements such as:

Develop and implement a coordinated marketing and branding plan that defines and strengthens regenerative tourism.

Check out and improve the goHawaii app for more island-specific features like real-time information, road closures, events, local etiquette, and resource conservation in areas that are out of bounds.

Continue public announcements about responsible visitors on incoming flights and at airports.

Explore the capacity limits of hotspots using scientifically based data. Keep educating the community and visitors about the importance of limiting numbers to ensure hot spots can persist and thrive.

Pilot a reservation system to support and explore sustainable visitor capacity the feasibility of expanding capabilities.

Which all sounds serious and sincere, but is about as effective as suggesting that kids don’t run into the hall when the break bell rings.

This HTA talks about managing the negative impact tourism has on Hawaii’s environment and the life of the residents is a big change in terms of the agency’s purpose. It speaks of how bad the over-tourism had gotten.

Unfortunately, neither the HTA nor any other company has any more power over tourism. There’s a force at the door, a river climbing its banks, a great wave cracking and crashing. Drive on or undergo, but we can no longer pretend we can stop, undo, or manage the damage.

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