Hawaii Tourism Greeted With About-Face: 70 Percent of Residents Now Support
Photo Credit: Hawaii Tourism Authority's latest resident sentiment survey, run by Omnitrak, shows most residents are pro-tourism but half don't agree more effort is being made to better manage it. Hawaii Tourism Authority / Vincent Lim
Skift Take
Hawaii's residents are aware tourism per se is a plus for development, the latest survey shows — but they also want solutions and action. Acting fast is crucial.
More than 70 percent of respondents across Hawaii’s popular island destinations said tourism is worth the issues associated with the industry, according to the a newly released Hawaii resident sentiment survey for spring 2021, run by Omnitrak for the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Respondents’ resounding “yes” was in response to a question that was prefaced with key data on the value of tourism to Hawaii — that in 2019, visitors spent nearly $18 billion in Hawaii, which produced $2 billion in state tax revenues to support local schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.
Given those facts, an overwhelming majority of respondents said tourism was worth the issues it came with, with the highest percentage of 78 percent from Oahu. The high "yes" rate was also fairly distributed across the islands' demographics.
“While residents have concerns over the negative impacts of tourism, they also do continue to support the industry,” said Chris
