Too many vacationers? Inaba needs to chop tourism promotion

Should the county continue to pump money into tourism funding when tourists seem to be coming here anyway?

This was an issue the county council looked at on Thursday when it was looking for change in a tight budget of $ 609.1 million.

North Kona councilor Holeka Inaba was concerned that other areas of the budget, including the council’s emergency funds, were being neglected and suggested taking $ 359,000 from the Department of Research and Development line item of $ 459,000 -Drawing dollars for contract tourism promotion services to use where he deems it necessary More.

“I think this money could be better spent elsewhere,” said Inaba. “We have goals that state that tourism is compatible with historical and natural resources. That it is not intrusive to our local communities, that it helps to strengthen private, public and international partnerships and makes us a resilient community. And I don’t think that’s true as we’ve seen last year. After tourism was gone, we were in the hole. “

Puna City Councilor Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder agreed.

“For the most part, I’ve heard from people that they want to see less tourism,” Kanealii-Kleinfelder said, adding, “Go to beaches and find them almost completely empty – there’s a beauty we won’t get.” if we focus on increasing tourism. “

Inaba’s measure died by 3-5 votes, with Kanealii-Kleinfelder and Council Chairman Maile David, who represented South Kona / Ka’u, also voting yes.

Tourism is indeed returning, albeit at a slower pace than some in the industry would like. Hawaii Island hotels reported an occupancy rate of 53.7% in April, compared to 47% in Oahu, 62.1% in Maui County, and 36.9% in Kauai, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. The Kohala Coast Hotels on the Big Island were 64.4% occupied.

The dates for the occupancy of the holiday apartments in April have yet to be published. However, the March accommodation choice outperformed the Big Island hotels, posting an occupancy rate of 70.3%, an increase of around 4.5 percentage points over the previous year.

Those who voted against the measure said the money, distributed through competitive grants, puts an emphasis on responsible tourism, which is badly needed on the island.

“We want our tourists to come to be pono and responsible tourists. And if we take this money away, we will not be able to articulate this message, ”said Ashley Kierkiewicz, councilor of Puna, quoting recent examples of bad behavior or ignorance regarding the dangers of visitors to Waipio Valley and Four Miles Park.

“I think if we take money away from tourism, especially this marketing article, we will not be able to articulate, if you come here you have to be pono,” she said. “You have to be respectful. You have to know before you go. “

Doug Adams, director of research and development, said the grants emphasize the implementation of the county’s strategic tourism plan and focus on demonstrating economic and equitable benefits to the residents of Hawaii Island. This includes responsible tourism, ponobased visitor communication, location-based education, and interpretive pilot programs in culturally and historically important locations, he said.

“We’re working on exactly the things that Councilor Inaba is worried about,” said Adams. “(We want) visitors here who are connected to the island’s identity and not just about it. … We are moving there and removing these funds does not help us get there. That actually makes it harder. “

Inaba pointed out that only $ 13,128 was earmarked for fire equipment for all stations on the island, so he wanted to add $ 50,000. The fire department’s funding was so lacking that firefighters had to dig into their own pockets to buy air conditioning for their windowless station, he said.

He also wanted to deposit $ 84,000 into a parks and recreation maintenance account for construction and building materials to help fix some of the deferred maintenance at the facilities. And he wanted to deposit $ 225,000 in emergency accounts and give $ 25,000 to each council member.

Council members will get another attempt to move funds over the next month when the final reading of the budget is in. The county division heads submitted 135 pages of additional budget requests for equipment or personnel that did not make it into Mayor Mitch Roth’s budget. These requests cannot be fulfilled without taking money from another location or collecting taxes.