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"GIVE THEM A PIECE OF YOUR MIND"
The Hawai`i Tourism Authority Says It Wants To Hear From Hawai`i Residents.
They Want Your Input On The Future Direction Of Tourism In Hawai`i.
So Nowʻs Your Golden Opportunity To Give Them A Piece Of Your Mind.
Donʻt Wait - Watch This & Then Speak Your Mind Today.
VENICE GAVE A GLIMPSE OF HAWAI`IʻS FUTURE & ITʻS HARD TO IGNORE
BeatOfHawaii.com - August 16, 2025
We traveled halfway around the world from Hawaii and hadn’t even crossed the iconic Rialto Bridge before the feeling hit. Thousands of miles away, yet something felt disturbingly familiar.
It wasn’t just the crowds. It was the stress in the air and the weariness on the faces of shopkeepers and restaurateurs. The way the city had been dressed up for visitors, but at the same time hollowed out underneath. It felt less like arriving somewhere new and more like looking into a mirror that reflected Hawaii’s pressures and unraveling back at us.
One city tourism official we interviewed told us flat out, under condition of anonymity: “Venice is dying a fast death.” The tone was calm, even resigned. “In fifty years, it could be all over.”
What we saw confirmed it. The narrow alleys were jammed to capacity with influencer-led walking tours, rolling bags, selfie sticks, cruise ship badges, and trite tourist souvenir shops that have replaced authentic Venetian crafts. The city’s texture, its soul, felt thin out as we moved through what resembled a cheap commercial tourist track more than a neighborhood.
Piazza San Marco was more an intensely crowded backdrop than a landmark, and the Rialto Bridge had become a stage for social media filming rather than a place to take in the view.
Venice now has just 49,000 residents, but unbelievably hosts over 20 million visitors per year. On peak days, tourists far outnumber Venetians, and the imbalance is worsening.
Venice’s day-visitor tourism charge: Real solution or mere performance?
That early trial is now over. From April 18 through July 27, 2025, Venice imposed a day-tripper access fee on 54 high-traffic days, expanding from the 29-day test first run in 2024. Tourists who register and pay at least four days ahead pay €5; last-minute visitors pay €10. The fee applies between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and is accompanied by fines ranging from €50 to €300 for non-compliance. Residents, overnight guests, students, and workers were exempt.
City officials called it a step toward managing overtourism and protecting daily life. But many Venetians felt it was too limited to make a real difference.
Hawaii’s short-term rental issues echo Venetian fatigue.
That debate follows a devastating fire, a housing emergency, and a long-running surge in visitor numbers. Like Venice, the question on Maui is becoming unavoidable: who is this place for? Is it for those trying to live and survive there, or for those just passing through?
You can read the latest on the Maui rental policy shift in our article, Maui Vacation Rental Ban Moves Forward Amid Growing Outrage..
As we moved through Venice’s packed corridors, it was hard not to think of Hawaii, especially Maui, but also the other islands. The comparison is not exact. Venice draws millions of day-trippers and cruise ship passengers, and its modern Marco Polo Airport connects to more than 90 destinations worldwide. Hawaii’s airports, including Honolulu, serve far fewer nonstop points by comparison. Yet the overtourism pressure points of housing loss, cultural erosion, and visitor fatigue are disturbingly similar.
Maui now faces what could become the most aggressive short-term rental crackdown in its history. That debate follows a devastating fire, a housing emergency, and a long-running surge in visitor numbers.
This is what displacement looks like on both sides of the world.
In Venice, a longtime resident told us he now avoids the city center altogether and lives outside the historic core. “It doesn’t feel like my city anymore,” he said.
Cafes that once served neighbors now chase quick turnover and struggle to charge enough to cover skyrocketing rents. Multi-generational apartments are listed for weekend getaways. Stores have been replaced by mini-markets and fast-service stands built for visitors, not residents.
We’ve heard almost the exact words here at home in Hawaii. One reader from Lahaina wrote us: “I don’t blame the visitors, but I don’t feel like I belong anymore either. It’s not the Hawaii I grew up in.”
The problem isn’t just numbers. Its identity. When people are pushed out of their communities, something deeper begins to unravel. No green fee or north shore shuttle fixes that.
Sea level rise makes tourism limits urgent.
Venice has built literal walls to hold it back. The MOSE project, a system of 78 mobile floodgates, was completed after decades of scandal and delay. It has prevented several major high-tide events, but climate models indicate it’s already operating beyond its original design. And confidence in the project is low.
Hawaii isn’t building similar barriers, but it’s already seeing the sea arrive too close for comfort both in Honolulu and Kaanapali. Even before the fires, Maui faced historic tidal flooding. And Waikiki’s shoreline erosion is a real and growing crisis.
We recently broke that down in Waikiki Sand Loss Fight Continues And Here’s What It Means. Significant sand replenishment efforts can barely keep pace, and many say the efforts aren’t even correctly placed. Future modeling suggests major loss of beach access across Oahu and beyond.
Bezos brings luxury attention and severe backlash.
Earlier this summer, Jeff Bezos held a multi-day wedding celebration in Venice at the recently restored 15th-century Palazzo Duodo, just steps from the Grand Canal.
The event sparked backlash from Venetians frustrated by yet another closure of public areas to accommodate a private elite gathering. Sounds all too familiar here in Hawaii. Access to key areas around the palazzo was reportedly restricted for security and press management.
To many, the timing felt off. The symbolism was unmistakable. This was another billionaire’s display unfolding in a city already struggling under the weight of massive overtourism.
In Maui, Bezos owns a sprawling $78 million estate. Following the wildfire disaster, his foundation pledged $100 million toward recovery efforts. While some praised the gesture, others saw a contradiction in it. Extreme wealth was reshaping the island in private, even as it tried to rebuild it in public.
In both Venice and Hawaii, the presence of Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and others in the same economic stratosphere has come to symbolize something bigger than any one property. It’s a reminder that even in places already overwhelmed by crisis, the space can still be cleared, but only for some.
That’s when people who live in iconic tourist destinations start to feel like guests in their own home. Everything looks the same, but it no longer feels like it’s theirs.
Tourism’s economic cycle is becoming a trap.
Venice relies on tourism for more than half of its economy. So does Hawaii, and arguably to an even greater extent. That kind of tourism dependency creates a dangerous feedback loop. More visitors bring more revenue, which fuels more marketing, more hotels, more flights—and more pressure on housing, labor, culture, and the environment.
Venice is already proof of where that cycle leads when it runs unchecked. Hawaii is behind Venice while showing signs that it could follow the same path.
Green fees and policy reforms: Strong talk, uneven follow-through.
Venice’s arguably too‑low entry fee trial has been widely criticized as cosmetic and ineffective. Some locals argue that surveillance and fees reduce the city to a cheap amusement park.
In Hawaii, a new green fee has now been enacted after years of debate—but that’s just the beginning. As we reported in Hawaii Trips Got Pricier And Green Fee Is Just The Start, the fee joins a growing list of added costs that haven’t necessarily translated into better environmental protection or enforcement.
Programs like Haena and Waipio Valley access limits have shown promise, but the system remains patchy at best. Political will remains the missing piece.
When a place becomes a set, it suddenly stops being a home.
In Venice, gondoliers offer QR codes. Laminated menus, when they exist, are printed in seven languages. Romance feels curated. Tourism is entirely transactional, and any authenticity is staged.
Hawaii doesn’t seem far behind in these areas either. When beaches are monopolized by hotel chairs, when sacred places are treated as Instagram selfie props, when trails and shorelines are quietly walled all but off entirely for resorts, the soul of a place begins to thin out, and fast.
Hawaii still has one thing Venice doesn’t, and that’s the chance to choose differently.
Unlike Venice, Hawaii still has some breathing room. The islands are spread out and far from any continent. The pressures hit differently on Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, and Oahu. Some protections, like limited access or fees, have shown it’s possible to draw a line.
But intention isn’t enough, and whether these are working remains to be seen. And not everyone agrees on the path forward. Policies need support and must be enforced, not just announced. Visitor numbers may need to be capped in fragile areas, given the overwhelming demand. Housing for residents has to get figured out.
If Venice shows anything, it’s that you can’t manage your way through overtourism forever. The icon shows what happens when you try. It fails.
What Hawaii-bound travelers should actually know.
We’re not saying don’t visit Venice or Hawaii. Not at all. But if you’re coming to either, know what you’re walking into. These places are under real strain. Legal rentals matter. So does where visitor money ends up. The signs asking for respect aren’t entirely window dressing; they’re also coming from people who live here and who feel worn down. If it feels a little tense in either place, that’s because it is.
Travelers don’t set the rules. But they add to the pressure. Every choice, from where you stay, what you support, and how you show up, either helps keep Hawaii livable or not.
We saw the warning. Will Hawaii catch it in time?
We left Venice rattled. Not because it wasn’t stunning, it absolutely was. But we hadn’t been there in years, and the dramatic changes were hard to miss. It felt far more staged. More stressed. Less like an authentic city, far more like a set.
It also felt familiar. Burnout. Housing strain. Instagram selfie crowds. Quiet exits. Plastic gondolas. Disneyland, but sinking. Hawaii isn’t there yet. But the signs are flashing. And the choice to steer away from that future won’t make itself.
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"BEDS FOR SARDINES"
Itʻs The Perfect Recipe For The Return Of Overtourism In Hawai`i.
Pay For A Room In Waikīkī & End Up Sleeping In A Box.
Think Weʻre Kidding?
Watch This & See Why Itʻs Another Ripoff Of Hawai`iʻs `Aina, Culture & People.
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"COMING SOON? - OUT OF CONTROL TOURISM"
You Have To See The Shocking Photos To Believe It.
Tourism Completely Out Of Control.
Is This Kind Of Overtourism On Its Way To Hawai`i?
Watch This For Answers & The One Thing To Prevent It.
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"HOW ARE KAUA`I BEACHES SOLVING OVERTOURISM?"
Has Kaua`i Done The Impossible?
Why Do Kaua`i North Shore Beaches Have Room For Locals Now?
Will The Rest Of Hawai`i Follow?
Watch This To See What Theyʻve Done & Why Others Are Watching.
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"YOU TOLD THEM DONʻT COME - DID THEY LISTEN?"
You Told Them Donʻt Come To Hawai`i.
Go Somewhere Else For A Vacation.
Recent Statistics Show Something Very Interesting.
Watch This To See If Theyʻve Been Listening.
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"HAWAI`IʻS CRAZY NEW HOTEL BOOM”
Are You Serious? Have We Learned Nothing?
Wasnʻt The Tourist Industry In Hawai`i Supposed To Reform Itself?
Instead Thereʻs Now A Huge New Hotel Construction Boom.
Watch This To Learn The Only Way This Is Going To Get Fixed.
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"GUESS WHO SAYS DONʻT GO TO MAUI?”
Someone Is Getting The Message About Overtourism In Hawai`i.
Maui Made Their “Do Not Travel There” List For 2023.
Weʻre Talking About One Of The Oldest & Largest Tourism Companies.
Watch This To See Who It Is & Why This Is Such A Big Deal.
CALL TO ACTION - THURSDAY - HOW MUCH TOURISM IS TOO MUCH?
Thatʻs the question that HB1233 aims to answer, and it's scheduled for a hearing this Thursday, February 2 at 10:00am.
Please submit your testimony in support as soon as you can.
If you wish to submit testimony over Zoom, you must fill out the form and submit your written testimony no later than 24 hours before the hearing.
In order to make informed decisions about the future of tourism on our islands, we need to know our limits.
Excessive tourism can easily result in long-term damage to our environment, our economy and the quality of life for our residents.
How to testify: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/account/login.aspx?return=/account/submittestimony.aspx
Hearing notice: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/sessions/session2023/hearingnotices/HEARING_TOU_02-02-23_.HTM
Bill Info: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1233&year=2023
SEEN WEDNESDAY ON FREE HAWAI`I TV
The millions of tourists who flock to the shores of Hawaii every year are wreaking havoc on its natural environment -- especially the coral reefs, which are at risk all over the world, a new study said.
The most popular coral reefs on the Hawaiian islands are likely being degraded by the very visitors they attract, according to a study published Monday in Nature Sustainability.
Researchers from Princeton University combed through more than 250,000 geotagged Instagram posts from 2018 to 2021 by tourists visiting Hawaiian reefs and compared them with flyover maps of live coral cover. They then used artificial intelligence to analyze reef map images at about a 2-meter resolution, or about 6.5 feet, and 16-meter, or 52.5-feet, depth, according to the study.
Bing Lin, a PhD candidate in science, technology and environmental policy at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs and the lead author of the study, got the idea to use social media for the research after doing fieldwork in Hawaii in 2021 and realizing that one of the first things people do when they visit a site is to take a photo and post it to Instagram, he told ABC News.
"They take pictures of the beaches, and they post on social media," he said. "Instagram is by far the main platform through which social media presence is documented, and so I came up with the idea of using Instagram to get a sense of a large-scale representation of where people are distributed in Hawaii."
The scientists found that the accessible sites with more live coral cover were visited more often, but that at the popular sites, coral covers were more degraded compared to those at less popular sites, the paper states.
"We were able to find that coral reefs not only played a really significant role in attracting tourism, but also that the tourism subsequently seemed to suppress live coral coverage at the sites in which tourism was most concentrated," Lin said.
While tourism is mostly concentrated on the shoreline, with lots of activity on the beach, many tourists end up on excursions in which they venture further into the ocean for snorkeling or scuba diving, Lin said.
Using keywords included in captions and hashtags, such as "#scubadiving," Lin was also able to determine a certain degree of interaction with the reefs. Corals tended to thrive farther out into the water, where there are less people, Lin said.
The degradation can happen in the form of diver contact, when divers intentionally or accidentally come in contact with the reefs, as well as elevated pollution in areas that tourists frequent, Lin said.
Places in Oahu in Honolulu County, such as Waikiki Beach, Waimea Bay, Lanikai Beach and Shark's Cove, were among the biggest spots for degraded reefs, Lin said.
Areas on the Big Island were also among the sites with the most degraded coral, he added.
Coral reefs are vulnerable all over the world due to ocean water warming and pollution.
A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2021 found that coral reefs could stop growing in 10 years unless greenhouse gases are significantly reduced.
Coral bleaching, a process that occurs when water is too warm and the algae the corals expel from their tissues cause them to turn completely white, is inundating reefs all over the world, including the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
In addition to their biodiversity and beauty, coral reefs serve as vital ecosystems, nurture fisheries and protect coasts....
"...The impacts of tourism is detectable across hundreds of sites," Lin said.
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"WHAT IS KILLING HAWAI`IʻS CORAL REEFS?”
When The US National News Does A Report On It, You Know Itʻs Important.
Thatʻs What Happened Recently About Hawai`iʻs Coral Reefs.
Something Is Putting Hawai`iʻs Coral Reef Survival In Grave Danger.
Watch This To See What It Is & How The Reefs Can Be Saved.
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"WHY TOURISM IS STRANGLING HAWAI`I"
Shocking Results In A Fake State Survey Show The Stranglehold Tourism Has On Life In Hawai`i.
The Survey Reveals That Most Hawai`i Residents Have Incomes Below The Self-Sufficiency Level.
So Just How Is Tourism In Hawai`i Responsible For That?
Watch This To Find Out As Well As A Solution.
Then Share This Video Today With Your Family & Everyone You Know.
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"IS HAWAI`I BEING RUN FOR TOURISTS INSTEAD OF YOU?"
Thatʻs What The People Of Hawai`i Were Asked In A Recent Survey.
The Results Are Now Published.
Your Answers Are Worse Than They Expected.
Watch This As We Reveal The Shocking Island-By-Island Statistics.
Then Share This Video Today With Your Family & Everyone You Know.
SEEN ON YESTERDAYʻS ʻFREE HAWAI`I TVʻ - DETOURS HAWAI`I - DECOLONIZING HAWAI`IʻS TOURISM
SFGate - July 27, 2022
Hawaii looms large in the imagination of the U.S. mainland as a tourist paradise: beautiful beaches and volcanoes, delicious food, and the spirit of “aloha,” a spirit of welcoming. But aloha is a complicated concept, and for some, the tourist industry sells the idea of Hawaii as uncomplicated and without any problems.
Hawaii’s natural beauty conceals some ugly realities. The islands’ economy is dominated by tourism and the military — there are 143 bases or facilities and 41,000 active-duty personnel. The military controls 21% of the island of Oahu, and there are 115 different sites on the islands identified as having been poisoned by decades of ordnance testing and military activity. Meanwhile, Indigenous Hawaiians suffer disproportionately from homelessness and poverty.
DeTours, an educational group run by Kyle Kajihiro and Terry Keko’olani, tries to pull back the blinders people have on when they visit Hawaii. “It’s sort of an anti-tourist experience,” Kajihiro explained, laughing. DeTours highlights the ways that Hawaii is dominated by the military and the tourist industry by taking visitors to parts of Oahu where they can be exposed to a different part of Hawaii’s history. Typical trips last around half a day and include visits to sites like Pearl Harbor, areas that are being reclaimed environmentally and parts of Honolulu tourists are unlikely to visit.
DeTours grew out of work Kajihiro and others did with the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker activist group that works on a wide variety of peace and justice issues. The group had worked on anti-militarism campaigns since the 1970s, both to highlight the loss of land from Indigenous Hawaiians and to protest the connections between Hawaii and U.S. military power as it was used in Vietnam. Kaho’olawe Island, a sacred place for Hawaiians, was used by the military solely to test explosives: One such test in 1965 involved detonating 500 tons of TNT at a time to replicate the effect of small nuclear blasts. These kinds of tests led to the occupation of the island by Hawaiians beginning in 1976; by 1993, the military ceded the island back to the state.
To promote understanding and learning, the American Friends Service Committee frequently organizes trips for people to visit and learn about other countries. But in Hawaii, Kajihiro and others noticed that they often had very progressive friends who, when visiting Hawaii, nevertheless treated the islands like a playground. “It was always striking that when people would think about Hawaii, their critical thinking would sort of turn off,” Kajihiro reflected.
For Kajihiro, the tourism industry has sold this idea of Hawaii as a multicultural paradise without any problems, and that idea made no sense to him. “Part of the interaction between tourism and militarism is that one masked the violence of the other, and the other provided the force which maintains this unjust presence.”
Kaijihiro and Keko’olani wanted to break people out of this habit. At first, they worked mostly by word-of-mouth. “We kept getting asked to do it,” Kajihiro explains. “We never advertise, it’s not something we actually set up but it just became a thing.” Many of their clients are students, with many groups coming from the University of Hawaii, but they get visitors coming from the mainland too.
The tours that Kajihiro and others lead are meant to shed light on the history of the Hawaiian islands that are covered up by militarism and U.S. imperialism. Few people know what Pu’uloa refers to, but they’re much more likely to know it by another name: Pearl Harbor. For Indigenous Hawaiians, the harbor was a vital source of food, as its structure made it ideal for aquaculture. That is lost today, and Pu’uloa and what it represented was destroyed when it was transformed into a military base. It’s now a Superfund site.
A typical tour starts at Iolani Palace, which was the royal residence for the Hawaiian monarchy until the coup ended native Hawaiian rule in 1893. Visitors then head to Camp H.M. Smith, headquarters of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, a drive through the Pearl Harbor base, a stop at the Pearl Harbor memorial, and a stop at the Hanakehau Learning Farm. Hanakehau is one of the many entities and organizations that exist to try and reclaim Hawaiian land. Drives through Honolulu also visit places like the Kalihi neighborhood that are working-class and immigrant neighborhoods dealing with their own issues, such as racism and discrimination.
“We use that drive to acclimate people to some of the contradictions ... these are not places where tour buses would go,” Kajihiro explained. For Kajihiro, the goal behind DeTours is to raise awareness of these issues, but more importantly, to get them to imagine what Hawaii might look like without militarism.
Lunch at Hanakehau becomes a discussion about alternative paths for the islands, and how visitors can play a part in that. “We want folks to see Hawaii as a place where they have relationships and responsibilities,” with many discussions centering around the idea of “kuleana,” a Hawaiian word loosely translating to responsibility in English. For visitors, this means educating others when they go back home and challenging the U.S. government’s policies.
Kajihiro also explained that he sees the group’s mission as reflecting their own kuleana. The military’s role in Hawaii isn’t solely to serve as a base of operations, but as a place to project power all across the globe. During the 1960s, military activities in Hawaii could be felt in Vietnam; today, they are felt in Afghanistan. “The wars that emanate from Hawaii, that are commanded from here, the techniques and technologies that are tested and perfected here, how is that harming folks in other parts of the world? That’s an aspect of the responsibility that we bear.”
When asked about what COVID-19 has done to the island economy, Kajihiro’s take was twofold. On the one hand, the COVID pandemic has deeply harmed the Hawaiian economy. “We have one of the highest unemployment rates because we’ve been addicted to the tourism economy.” However, from Kajihiro’s perspective, “it’s forced us to reckon with the environmental and social costs of tourism as a mainstay of the economy. What’s the point of having all of this if it’s making life harder and more expensive?” One more positive aspect: Kajihiro has also seen more community solidarity through food drives or organizing to connect farmers with consumers.
DeTours and other groups like it are a vision for a different kind of tourism. For most people and most tourist-centered organizations, you go somewhere for a little while and then you leave. What Kajihiro and Keko’olani want people to do is take some part of that with them and to use travel to sharpen their own sense of responsibility toward the rest of the world.
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"IS HAWAI`I JUST A BROWN DISNEYLAND?"
Tourists Who Come To Hawai`i Behave Like It Is.
Why Do They Act Like That?
What Can Be Done To Stop It?
Watch This For Answers As Well As How Tourism Can Be Done Right.
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"TELL TOURISTS NOT TO COME TO HAWAI`I"
Why Should You Tell Tourists Not To Come To Hawai`i?
Itʻs The Best Way For Them To Support Hawai`i & Hawaiians.
It Allows Our `Aina, Oceans & Resources To Heal.
Watch This For Things You Can Do To Help Protect Our Home.
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HAWAI`I VACATION IS HARMFUL TO ITS RESIDENTS
The Hawaii most tourists see is one of azure waters and towering resorts, of "aloha" and "ohana" and hula.
But as it exists now, the powerful tourism industry dictates the lives of Native Hawaiians, often for the worse, said Kyle Kajihiro, a lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa and activist for the rights of Native Hawaiians.
The tourism industry in Hawaii powers its state revenue, but that reliance on tourism has resulted in Native Hawaiians getting priced out of their homes, climate change wreaking havoc on the natural landscape, and a lack of respect for the 50th state that is also the ancestral land of more than half a million people.
"I think that it is too easy for people to visit places like Hawaii," Kajihiro said. "It conditions visitors to feel entitled.”
The industry must change to improve the futures of Native Hawaiians, Kajihiro told CNN. He's one of several residents who have worked to educate visitors and return some elements of Hawaiian culture to the people from whom it originated. If visitors to Hawaii decenter themselves and instead take with them respect and a willingness to learn -- or choose not to visit at all -- then Hawaii may be preserved for the people who have called it home for centuries, activists say.
For many residents, living in Hawaii is no vacation.
Tourism is Hawaii's largest single source of private capital, per the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, it remains incredibly lucrative: In April alone, visitors to Hawaii spent over $1 billion in the islands, according to a state report marking the recovery of tourism since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But what's profitable for Hawaii's economy can negatively impact the lives of Native Hawaiians and yearlong residents. To combat drought conditions, residents last year were asked to reduce their water consumption or face a fine while large resorts continued to use far more water. There are millions more annual visitors than there are permanent residents -- in 2021, there were more than 6.7 million visitors compared to 1.4 million residents -- which can cause carbon emissions to surge and overuse of its beaches, hiking trails and other natural wonders. Hawaii has even been called the "extinction capital of the world" for the number of species who've gone extinct or are at high risk of dying out.
It also has the highest cost of living in the nation, partly due to the state having to import around 90% of its goods. Its housing market is one of the most expensive in the country, ProPublica and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported in 2020, and with a large demand for land and a limited amount of it, Native Hawaiians can spend decades waiting to reclaim ancestral land, leading some to move from the islands.
"Tourism normalizes and conceals the current dystopian reality experienced by many Kānaka Maoli and the poor immigrant communities in Hawaii," Kajihiro told CNN. (Kānaka Maoli is the Hawaiian-language term for Native Hawaiians.)
To empower Native Hawaiians and return some of their rights, the tourism industry needs to change, beginning with its ethos, Kajihiro said.
'DeTours' show the real history of Hawaii beyond the beach.
In an effort to reclaim the histories of Hawaii and educate residents and visitors about the impacts of colonization, militarization and tourism, Kajihiro created the Hawai'i DeTour Project. The program, which he runs with lifelong activist Terrilee Kekoʻolani, aims to "interject a more critical historical account of Hawaii" in hopes that it'll start conversations about social responsibility and create solidarity with social justice and environmental activist efforts in Hawaii.
Kajihiro leads DeTours to locations like downtown Honolulu to discuss Hawaii's former sovereignty; to 'Iolani Palace, where the US supported a White settler-led coup against Queen Lili'uokalani; to military landmarks like the Pearl Harbor memorial to discuss American efforts to transform parts of Hawaii into military strongholds.
Though Kajihiro doesn't advertise his services, visitors are increasingly seeking them out. While he prioritizes educational and political groups that can help create change locally, he has seen both residents and visitors on his tours, some of whom go on to become involved in the causes he highlights.
"I guess it could be seen as a good sign that people want to learn and be more responsible as travelers," he said. "But there are also many people who simply want the novelty of a 'reality' tour or seek to assuage their guilt by doing a more 'socially responsible' tourism. I'm not interested in giving people permission to visit Hawaii guilt-free.”
One way to support Native Hawaiians is to not visit at all, some say.
Two educators in Hawaii borrowed the name of Kajihiro's operation for their book, which also shares his principles. "Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai'i," co-edited by Vernadette Gonzalez and Hōkūlani Aikau, is no ordinary guide book -- it's a call to action.
The book is designed to educate readers about Hawaii's past and present and the negative impacts of colonization, militarization and tourism. Even if readers never make it to Hawaii, the stories transport them to some of the sites Kajihiro leads his groups to. In the introduction to the book, Gonzalez and Aikau write that not all readers will be "invited or allowed to go to all of the places that are described," and some locales were left out entirely because they're "not meant for outsiders."
Many tourists' relationship to Hawaii is an extractive one, Gonzalez and Aikau write, and that relationship must shift to one of support if the Hawaii tourists know and the Hawaii its residents live in are to continue to exist. Even better, they write, would be choosing not to vacation in Hawaii at all.
"Sometimes the best way to support decolonization and Kanaka 'Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) resurgence is to not come as a tourist to our home," the editors write.
Improving tourism begins with respect for the islands and Native Hawaiians.
Of course, there will always be tourists in Hawaii as long as it remains the islands' top industry -- and as long as its beaches beckon to guests with deep pockets. The nonprofit Sustainable Tourism Association of Hawaii connect tourists with local attractions that emphasize cultural and environmental responsibility. The Coconut Traveler, a travel company created by Debbie Misajon, the granddaughter of Filipino immigrants who moved to Hawaii to work on sugarcane plantations, is aimed at wealthy guests and charges a responsible tourism fee, 100% of which goes to local organizations that work to sustain Hawaii's natural beauty. Recentering the focus of a trip to Hawaii from the guest to the island and its residents might lighten the footprint a tourist leaves there, Misajon told CNN.
"I'm all for coming and enjoying the islands, but (I) encourage people to find ways to be part of the solution," Misajon said. "It might be trite, but spend your money locally.”
Making fundamental changes to the tourism industry should begin with returning rights to Native Hawaiians and letting them decide how they want their culture to be shared and consumed, if at all, Kajihiro said. There's already a model of this in New Zealand, where the Māori people have control over how their culture is represented and experienced by tourists, he said, with an emphasis on mutual respect.
"Let's abolish the word 'tourism,'" Kajihiro said. "The very term privileges the consumer, the act of consuming places, and the transactional relationship."
Instead, he said, visitors should "rethink travel as entering someone else's home." Someone who's a guest at someone else's home may bring a gift with them or express their gratitude to their host in other ways, he said.
"As a visitor, you have the burden to learn, act responsibly, not be a burden and respect your hosts," Kajihiro said.
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