Hawaii May Face Increasing Challenges with Overtourism As Legislature Mulls Disbanding Hawaii Tourism Authority

As a busy summer travel season looms, Hawaii may be headed for serious overtourism challenges.

A new report from Bloomberg outlines what may be a perfect storm of issues facing Hawaii’s tourism infrastructure as the summer approaches.

In particular, the news report notes that Hawaii’s legislators have not provided any funding for the state’s 25-year-old tourism office in the proposed state tourism budget bill for fiscal year 2023-2024 (which starts on July 1).

What’s more, in April, those same lawmakers considered entirely disbanding the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) and replacing it with an agency the would focus its efforts on managing destination resources rather than marketing Hawaii to tourists.

Though that effort has been deferred, according to Bloomberg and the HTA remains operating for the time being, there are concerns that eliminating the agency from the tourism budget would pose a serious challenge to efforts to “manage tourism on the islands.”

Lacking any funding, the HTA’s work in “destination management, visitor education and brand marketing” could be in peril, John De Fries, chief executive officer at the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said in a recent newsletter, according to Bloomberg.

Lawmakers meanwhile, suggest the tourism office can access $30 million in unused funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to continue managing tourism. That dollar figure amounts to about half of what the HTA was seeking for the coming fiscal year.

The uncertainty surrounding funding represents an “existential” threat to everything from cultural activities to festivals and community-led volunteer opportunities that have made Hawaii a particularly vibrant place to visit recently, Bloomberg reported.

The changes being pushed by lawmakers and proposal to disband the tourism authority come just two years after Hawaii’s tourism board kicked off a trailblazing effort designed to incorporate and emphasize authentic Native Hawaiian culture into every part of the visitor industry and use such programs to help protect Hawaii’s communities and fragile places.