Although Annie Tan has long wanted to experience Hawai’i’s natural beauty and multicultural communities, she has recently decided to vacation elsewhere for the foreseeable future.
“After the fires in 2023, I remember seeing in the media that a lot of aid efforts were going to tourists and not necessarily to local people. When I started to understand how dependent Hawai‘i is on tourism, that got me thinking that visiting is not a good thing. Maybe it’s not what the people want, especially when I hear of people saying you’re not helping us, and you shouldn’t come and use our land and take away resources from people who are here. But at the same time, I know that people are dependent on tourism there,” says Tan, who lives in the Queens borough of New York and works for a nonprofit.
“It’s confusing as a person who tries to do the right thing. So I straight up have decided that it’s better if I just don’t go.”
Her mixed feelings are echoed among other potential visitors who aren’t sure how to be respectful tourists while so many are still mourning after the Maui wildfires and at a time when anti-tourism sentiment is rising not only in Hawai‘i but around the world. This summer, for example, demonstrators in Barcelona marched through areas popular with tourists, chanting “tourists go home” and squirting them with water pistols.
Mysti Berry has been traveling from the Bay Area to Hawai‘i for the last 20 years but has also started questioning whether her presence is inflicting more harm than good.
“During the pandemic, I started reading articles about how tourism has contributed so much pollution and harm to the environment. And this gave me pause because I had never considered any of that before,” says the San Francisco-based writer.
State leaders have signaled that managing such tensions between tourism, as the state’s biggest revenue generator, and the needs of community members, is one of their biggest priorities. In June, Gov. Josh Green signed a bill incorporating regenerative tourism into the Hawai‘i State Planning Act. The goals of such legislation include reducing tourism’s ecological footprint as well as supporting more education and job training for residents within the visitor industry.
“By 2028, we have set as our goal to be known as a regenerative destination,” says Daniel Nahoopii, the interim president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. “What this means is a tourism that not only supports communities but adds back to them by protecting environments, acknowledging Indigenous communities as critical to this change, creating destination stewardship programs and seeing what infrastructure is needed. There will be more programs to make sure visitors get safe, clean experiences and that residents feel empowered.”
Nahoopii adds that the kinds of travelers such initiatives will target include mindful ones. “We know they will follow rules, want a cultural and historical experience, and want to make sure they don’t have a negative impact on the environment.”
But it will take time to make these initiatives reality. For now, mindful travelers like Tan aren’t sure what to do.
Mana Up co-founder Meli James says: “Someone who is culturally sensitive and wants to do the right thing will think, ‘I don’t know what’s right, so maybe I just shouldn’t come.’ When tourists get confused, they are going to err on being conservative because they don’t know the right way to be a tourist. And that’s not helping anyone.”
James adds, “What we need to do is create clearer messaging and examples for how visitors can add value. And be a model for how to do this the right way.”
What should that message be? This article explores that question from a range of perspectives, including those of potential visitors, tourist industry leaders, travel influencers and those whose communities are affected most by tourism. While this can be a complex and contentious topic, the people we interviewed all agree on the importance of articulating a clear message on how to be a good traveler in the age of anti-tourism sentiment. Here are the three key points that emerged.
Seek Out the Voices of the People Who Call Hawai’i Home
Britney Alejo-Fishell recalls a moment right after the Maui wildfires that made it painfully apparent how disconnected some visitors were to what was happening.
“We were getting supplies, and all the shelves at the stores were empty. All of us normal everyday people and first responders were panicking. I remember seeing a lady who had just lost everything, wandering around looking for a pair of shoes that could fit. And at the same time, there was a tourist family with a pineapple in their cart, complaining how there was nothing to buy,” says Alejo-Fishell, the owner and founder of Haku Maui, based in Makawao.
“It was this kind of insensitivity to their surroundings that heightens so many of the emotions in our community,” she says.
Despite the grief, Alejo-Fishell emphasizes that she is ultimately hopeful, having seen the transformation visitors go through when they learn more about Native Hawaiian culture through her store, which specializes in traditional lei and lei-making workshops.
“You can go to Costco and buy a lei, or you can come here and we can tell you where this flower was picked, the time it was picked and who the farmer is. Your lei tells a story and when we give lei, it also tells a story. People tell us they are forever changed by their time with us and that it changed their view of this place,” she says.
This is what she wants for every tourist: to get out of their exclusive resorts, head to small, historical towns and meet the people. Most of the time, the people behind the cash registers will be the business owners. “This is a way that tourists can come learn but also play a part in helping us heal,” says Alejo-Fishell.
Several people interviewed for this piece mentioned the latest Hawaiian Airlines in-flight video as a great example of emphasizing the importance of Hawai‘i not just as a destination, but as a home to people who care deeply about their environment and everything it comprises, from its mountains and beaches to its taro fields and farmers markets.
“The video they produce is exactly the type of message we want to get out to more visitors. And they did it on their own, it wasn’t a mandate,” says James Kunane Tokioka, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
Likewise, Chris – who started a YouTube channel called “Hello From Hawaii” – also saw a need for more content from a local’s point of view. Most of the videos out there were about tourist sites.
“If it’s just vacation stuff, that’s the primary narrative out there. And people won’t know what it’s actually like for residents, and what our culture is really like. I wanted to talk about Hawai‘i from the perspective of one local. That doesn’t mean I speak for all locals or for the Native Hawaiian community. But I’m someone who was born and raised here and just trying to share what that’s like,” says Chris, who says he doesn’t use his last name online to protect his family’s privacy.
Some topics in the videos featured on his channel include the differences between Native Hawaiian, local and Western cultures; everyday problems that locals face; hotel strikes; the issue of affordability; and what it’s like to raise children in the state.
Another video is a response to the article “Hawai‘i is not and never will be your vacation ‘paradise’ ” by Native Hawaiian writer and university student Gisele Bisch and published in the Daily Princetonian, a publication at Princeton University. In the article, Bisch argues that “one cannot claim to respect, advocate for, or try to empower Indigenous people while also traveling to Hawai‘i.”
Chris hopes that instead of only relying on social media or Reddit forums, ambivalent travelers can find a variety of in-depth views from people who live in Hawai‘i to help them make the right decisions for themselves.
“If people choose not to come, it’s their right, but I hope that if they come across my video, they will understand that not everyone is pushing that narrative of ‘stay away.’ Not everyone believes that tourism is this bad thing that is hurting everyone in Hawai‘i. I hope they can hear both sides and a well-rounded discussion about that topic.”
When I spoke directly with Bisch, who was born on O‘ahu, she explained the impetus of her article was to point out the historical impact of tourism on her Native Hawaiian community. “A lot of elements in relation to Native Hawaiian culture or conceptions of Native Hawaiian identity are used in the tourism industry and marketed internationally. And yet when it comes to benefiting from tourism in our economy, our voices are not a part of the conversation. Hawai‘i likes to market itself as solely a vacation to other people, but that flattens what this place means to actual Native Hawaiians,” she says.
Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement CEO Kūhiō Lewis is hoping to change all of that. In fact, as he points out, there has never been as much Native Hawaiian representation as there is right now among the state’s tourism leadership – which includes HTA’s Nahoopii; DBEDT’s Tokioka; and Aaron Salā, now CEO of the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau. And they’re all collaborating on regenerative tourism initiatives.
“What has made Native Hawaiians so upset is seeing the tourist industry define their identity. So what we are doing is shifting the focus, making sure we are telling the right stories in alignment with our people. And we are taking it to the level of integrating Hawaiian culture into the fabric of regenerative tourism. Our values will become part of the DNA as we work toward fixing the model of tourism,” says Lewis.
Adds Tokioka: “We want to make sure the people we grew up with, the people we know from our communities, that their voices are heard.”
Buy Local but Just As Importantly, Explore the Stories Behind the Products
There are many ways visitors can volunteer their time while on vacation. The Mālama Hawai‘i Program, launched by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority during the pandemic, for example, offers participation in activities such as beach cleanups and native tree planting in exchange for hotel discounts.
But as Mana Up co-founder James acknowledges, volunteer work isn’t the only way to define “doing good,” and people on vacation may not want to spend their time that way. Instead, she says, doing good can be fun when it comes to supporting local businesses. “People can stay at a locally owned hotel, eat at a locally owned restaurant, go to locally owned grocery stores. They can go to Kō Hana Rum, have a mai tai with locally made rum. They can go to Mānoa Chocolate for a tasting. They can go to one of the farms and support our local farming initiatives. They can end up having a great experience while knowing that every dollar they are spending will stay in our community.”
James says equally important as buying local is understanding the story behind those locally made products. Mana Up, which supports companies based in Hawai‘i that produce consumer products, also works with company founders to tell the stories of their brands, and it’s evident throughout their retail locations. “We love seeing folks come in and get that delight when they are looking at our entrepreneur cards and learning something different about Hawai‘i while contributing and investing in the state.”
The hope of Karli Rose, founder of a company called To Be, is to continue supporting her community on Maui by keeping the manufacturing of her all-natural skin and body products in Hawai‘i. She explains that she and her team craft all of their botanical products from start to finish in their Wailuku store. But, like James, she wants visitors to take away more than just the products. To keep her customers connected to her community, even when they are back home, she sends a regular newsletter.
“In general, most people have a good heart and maybe I’m optimistic, but it’s up to us as small businesses to educate our customers so that when they return, they have a level of awareness because we’re fostering that connection we have with them. And they love it. They love learning about Hawai‘i. And that helps bridge the gap. It’s all about education, and doing it with the aloha spirit,” says Rose.
But she also emphasizes that small businesses need more help. Hawai‘i’s tourism strategy has been primarily centered around big hotels and brands. There’s been less guidance for individual businesses on how to plug in to the visitor economy so travelers know how to make local businesses a bigger part of their itineraries.
HTA’s public affairs officer, T. Ilihia Gionson, says that as the state enacts more regenerative tourism measures, this will change. “When we talk about local businesses, how do we make sure people know about these local businesses? If we know that visitors are coming to enjoy a day at the beach, how do we make sure that they know that there’s a growing fashion scene and they can buy a Hawai‘i-made swimming suit? This is one of many examples of work we want to do to optimize tourism for the benefit of local businesses and communities.”
Don’t Just Drop in. Commit to Being Part of the Larger Fabric of This Place.
Maui resident Roselani Aiwohi says it angers her when tourists film in her community and then brag that they’ve “discovered” something off the beaten path. “The next thing we know we get 50 tourists at a little freshwater pond. And with that comes degradation because they don’t know how to treat the place respectfully. Hawaiians are getting very frustrated with people treating our home as their playground.”
George Thompson, a Kaua‘i resident and former VP and director of public relations at Wizard Publications, agrees that friction often arises when tourists wander into local communities that aren’t designed to accommodate them.
“People want to experience the Hawai‘i lifestyle. They want to have those authentic adventures and they go out and look for them in our neighborhoods. Waikīkī is a tourist spot, so if you’re a local and you go there, you’re not frustrated at tourism; you expect it there. It’s when tourism starts to impact our existence, when it brings traffic or people blocking the aisles at Safeway or degradation of sacred sites that it becomes frustrating,” says Thompson, who has worked in and around the tourist industry for 45 years.
For Aiwohi, owner of her own clothing shop at Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center, travel shouldn’t just be about taking and leaving but finding ways to commit to the places that you love. Her perspective was shaped by her own travel to Bali. She says it was a wonderful trip, but while staying in touch with her driver there, she discovered he was struggling to feed his family. Eventually, she figured out a way to help his family by hiring his wife as a pattern maker and seamstress. This gave her the idea for Waiwaolani, which sells clothing featuring native plant patterns. To this day, she continues to support the Balinese family with work at her company.
“What we should work toward is educating tourists to come and leave this place either in the exact same state or even better,” Aiwohi says.
Popular but ecologically fragile places, such as Diamond Head State Monument and Ha‘ena State Park now require visitors to make reservations, resulting in less congestion and impact on surrounding neighborhoods. Hawai‘i County Council Chair Heather Kimball also hopes for more education to go along with the restrictions. She offers Waipi‘o Valley on Hawai‘i Island as an example.
“What I would think would be wonderful to see is some sort of visitor experience where they are educated at the top of the valley or offered a guided tour,” she says. “Then we don’t have to worry about people driving around, getting stuck in the river or hiking back to the waterfalls through private property.”
But in addition, she hopes that there can be ways for visitors to learn about the deeper meanings behind such places. She describes looking at some historical texts about Waipi‘o. “The general theme is that it is an ever-changing, evolving place and that if you go, you should have a purpose. So how do we allow folks to establish a purpose and understand that aspect of Waipi‘o as well as its dynamic nature as a valley of cultural significance?”
Some countries have established tourism pledges to educate visitors. Palau, for example, requires each visitor to sign a passport pledge to act in an ecologically and culturally responsible way on the island, for the sake of Palau’s children and future generations.
Likewise, the Island of Hawai‘i Visitors Bureau features The Pono Pledge. It encourages safe, sustainable and respectful tourism through eight principles, including admiring wildlife only from afar and embracing the concept of being a steward of the land.
While there is no required pledge to enter Hawai‘i, some believe it is important to establish messages on how to be a good tourist.
Jamie Borromeo Akau is the managing director of Mālama Kōkua, a nonprofit that promotes holistic health and wellness while perpetuating Hawaiian cultural values. “This is not about telling people what to do,” she says. “It’s about reminding them that they are a part of a larger fabric. You are not an individual when you’re coming to Hawai‘i. And it’s not just that you are coming to enjoy the land. You are a guest and steward of the land. And you are there to learn about the keepers of the land,” says Akau.
Ultimately, says HTA’s Nahoopii, we can shift our paradigm of the tourism industry so that it is no longer an extractive economy that degrades our resources.
“Tourism is a strong industry that continues to produce tax revenue and money flowing in. But it can also be used for social change, when money can get down to the level of the communities in order to empower them.”
“Tourism can be a change agent.”
That’s the kind of message that will likely connect with potential visitors like Annie Tan. “I think really listening to the people who live there and having them be the primary messengers of what kinds of things make Hawai‘i a special place for them and what outsiders can do to make sure the special culture stays alive is what’s most important to me. Of course, I would love to vacation there. But I need to know how I can give back and not be part of the problem.”
This post was originally published on here
