Aloha...Now Give It Here or Get Out!
The results of a recent study by the Hawaii Tourism Authority revealed that Hawaii residents aren't thrilled about our #1 industry: tourism. And why would we feel this way about an $11.5 billion industry that employs 183,000 locals? Because, as the Honolulu Advertiser so aptly put it, "Tourists suck up resources, jam roads and crowd beaches. They bring money and jobs, but mostly the low-paying, dead-end variety."
It's not so much that residents are peeved at the tourists themselves (who can blame them for wanting to visit Hawaii?), but rather, they feel that government officials are not properly allocating tourism's economic benefits back to the locals (too many potholes, aging sewer lines, not enough traffic lights, poor conditions at schools, not enough parks, too much pollution, endangerment of Hawaiian culture, etc.). Residents also see the fact that tourism is breaking records year over year as part of a trend toward overpopulation, and they question the islands' ability to sustain that.
Here's my cue to say: this is why we need to diversify Hawaii's economy with an industry like, say, oh I dunno...the film industry perhaps? Where the kinds of jobs created are arguably less "dead-end" and the relationship with Hawaii more long-term and forward-thinking? Just a totally random thought.
>> Islanders irked over tourism [Hnl Star Bulletin, 4/11/06]
>> Islanders growing weary of tourism? [Hnl Advertiser, 4/11/06]
>> 2005 Survey of Resident Sentiments on Tourism in Hawaii [Hawaii Tourism Authority's full report]
RELATED POSTS:
>> The Transplantification of Hawaii
>> "Set-jetting" in Hawaii
>> Hawaii Film & TV Productions Goin' Down
>> The Glamourous Film Industry
It's not so much that residents are peeved at the tourists themselves (who can blame them for wanting to visit Hawaii?), but rather, they feel that government officials are not properly allocating tourism's economic benefits back to the locals (too many potholes, aging sewer lines, not enough traffic lights, poor conditions at schools, not enough parks, too much pollution, endangerment of Hawaiian culture, etc.). Residents also see the fact that tourism is breaking records year over year as part of a trend toward overpopulation, and they question the islands' ability to sustain that.
Here's my cue to say: this is why we need to diversify Hawaii's economy with an industry like, say, oh I dunno...the film industry perhaps? Where the kinds of jobs created are arguably less "dead-end" and the relationship with Hawaii more long-term and forward-thinking? Just a totally random thought.
>> Islanders irked over tourism [Hnl Star Bulletin, 4/11/06]
>> Islanders growing weary of tourism? [Hnl Advertiser, 4/11/06]
>> 2005 Survey of Resident Sentiments on Tourism in Hawaii [Hawaii Tourism Authority's full report]
RELATED POSTS:
>> The Transplantification of Hawaii
>> "Set-jetting" in Hawaii
>> Hawaii Film & TV Productions Goin' Down
>> The Glamourous Film Industry
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posted by mynette at
4:02 PM
