Mānoa Falls Reopening Highlights Tourism Administration, Resurgence of Mainland Guests

O’ahu’s popular Mānoa Falls Trail reopened on Sunday after it had been closed for improvements since July 2019 – in time for National Trails Day. As tourists flock to the area, The Conversation spoke to state park administrator Curt Cottrell about regenerative tourism and how Hawaii can manage its recreational hotspots.

The trail was originally closed to allow the State Department of Land and Natural Resources to install a fence next to the 150-foot falls to help contain the risk of falling rocks. With the path closed for the fence installation, Nā Ala Hele has also installed some long overdue improvements to trail safety, the DLNR said.

According to the DLNR, the improvements included the widening of the path for oncoming traffic, the renewal of the bed of the path, new steps and measures to control erosion and water runoff. Before the pandemic, Nā Ala Hele said the Mānoa Falls attracted 700 to 1,000 people a day.

A recent survey by the University of Hawai’i Economic Research Organization found that Residents want better management of visitors throughout the state. The report also highlighted that there is a strong consensus among local residents that the state should play a bigger role in managing tourism.

“You know, I hate using that word too much, but the paradigm shift we are dealing with is, in my opinion, unprecedented in this state that is so completely dependent on tourism,” said Cottrell. “All of our residents have had a break from the overwhelming saturation burden of the tourism industry.”

With regard to tourism management, here are some excerpts from Cottrell’s interview, edited for length and clarity.

About tourism at the Mānoa Falls

COTTRELL: The Mānoa Falls will be badly affected because there is no filter system at M atnoa Falls. The only restriction is parking. We know that the visitor will simply park further away to get to their intended recreational area. Given the ease of the hike and the waterfall at the end, I suspect the Mānoa community will see the effects that Hāna, Wainiha, Hāʻena and other places experience.

About the rapid resurgence of mainland visitors

COTTRELL: Here’s the interesting thing that we didn’t expect. I think Hawaii got caught a bit with the pants down around the ankles as we couldn’t foresee this immediate and rapid resurgence. Hawaii has become a very attractive venue: we’re sure we’re still cheap. And we get so many visitors on the mainland as opposed to the Asian market which doesn’t [re]still up with the buses and the cruise ships and so on.

But here’s the thing, and I hate tossing my fellow Americans under the bus, but mainland America visitors don’t have the same level of discipline or respect certain restrictions or protocols that other visitors might have. And so we not only get a stifling number of American visitors, but also a lot of behavioral problems that we are simply not prepared for: people who leave the premises, stop in the middle of the road on the Hāna Highway, photographs … create that Part of tourism that we now learn is missing.

Now that it’s back that far, the government is trying to develop methods to control this flow and learn how to practice regenerative tourism and minimize its impact on communities. But it is difficult. It’s like we’re rebuilding the plane and flying at the same time.

How to balance experiences for tourists and residents

COTTRELL: What we’re all looking at is: How do we pay for these reservation and fee systems? And I think because Hawaii has lagged so far behind the recreational room fee curve, we’re catching up with that. Now we’ve increased state park fees during the pandemic and are now charging some of the near highest rates in the nation for some of our features. I think for hiking trails we hate looking at a system where people have to pay for hiking. This is especially difficult in a situation where you have cultural and endemic access rights.

But if we continue to really focus on visitors as the intended recipients of reservations and fees, I believe these will be the additional funding mechanisms we need to put in place to manage both the technology for reservations and that impact. But at the end of the day these planes will keep arriving and as long as there are hotel rooms and plane seats we can build as many defenses as possible on the different targets, but it will have unintended consequences as they look for other targets.

About the financial gain from collecting entrance and parking fees

COTTRELL: It is conservatively estimated that our state parks will generate a $ 4 million to $ 5 million surplus in our specialty fund by the end of the year, based on our fee increase and patronage. And we’re going to have to go to the legislature next year to get the authority to spend it because they’re keeping an eye on our spending cap. So even though we are generating a lot more funds than ever before, we cannot convert those funds into the tools we need to use on-site to improve the quality and manage the visitor units in the park.

We are short [on staff]. We lost seven positions that were reduced in anticipation of a multi-year economic downturn. We have six positions that are not funded, 13 park workers across the country that I do not have access to, in addition to the current hiring freeze for a few other positions that we could now use on-site to address the visitor impact. Our tools in our tool box were also slightly trimmed.