Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 1, 1 January 2022 — Reshaping Tourism [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Reshaping Tourism

By Lisa Huynh Eller For a brief moment during the pandemic, kama' 'āina experienced Hawai'i without the pressure of tourism. But then the state opened back up, and tourists returned in droves. Hawai'i's tourism industry eame under a magnifying glass and people were concerned by what they saw. Residents and organizations - the Hawai'i Tourism Authority (HTA) and the 'Āina Aloha Eeonomie Futures Initiative among them - called for changing what has beeome an unsustainable model of tourism. The newly appointed team at HTA's helm, including its first leader of Native Hawaiian ancestry, says changing the visitor industry is necessary and possible. "Tourism today is doing exactly what it was designed to do seven decades ago, whieh was to generate more and more and more. We've reached a time in Hawai'i's history where the community is saying that model is no longer suflicient or appropriate," said HTA President and CEO John De Fries. The challenge, he said, is to continue to generate $2 hillion a year in tax revenue for the state - revenue whieh funds education and other essential functions kama aina rely on - while adopting a "regenerative" model of tourism that gives back to communities and the aina. According to a 2021 UH Mānoa Puhlie Policy Center survey, most residents want to limit visitors and charge user fees, especially at some of Hawai'i's most vulnerable environmental and cultural sites. In the short-term, HTA is advocating for the use of technology to manage the flow of visitor trafhc to popular destinations, as is currently used at Hanauma Bay on O'ahu, or on the north

John De Fries, HTA President and CE0. - Photo: Hawai'i Tourism Authority

Kalani Ka'anā'anā, HTA chief brand officer. - Photo: Derek Wong

shore of Kaua'i to access Hā'ena State Park. HTA is also working to attract "mindful travelers," a term used in the industry to describe travelers who understand, embrace and uphold their responsibility to mālama the plaee they are visiting. Since its establishment in 1998, HTA's focus has been on marketing. But its new strategic plan calls for more "destination management," whieh emphasizes addressing tourism-related problems, attracting and educating responsible visitors, and improving natural and cultural resources. ' As a Hawaiian, I think about it in the context of this is my home, these are my neighbors, this is my family. We have to understand the holistic impacts of tourism on

Mōlia Sanders, NaHHA executive director. - Photo: Courtesy

Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, one of the founding members of AAEF. - Photo: Courtesy

our home, both good and bad," said Kalani Ka'anā'anā, HTA's chief brand ofhcer. "There are positive impacts we want to amplify, and negative impacts we want to try to mitigate or lessen. When I think about destination management, it's balancing all those things." The shift toward destination management comes at a time when residents are concerned about tourism yet supportive of its benefits. HTA's 2021 Resident Sentiment survey found that more than 75% of Hawai'i residents answered "yes" when asked whether they thought tourism is worth the issues associated it. Other surveys have suggested that visitors, too, want to experience a less SEE RESHAPING T0URISM ON PAGE 13

Across the pae 'āina, technology is now being used successfully to manage the flow of visitor traffic to some popular destinations that had heeome increasingly overrun in recent years by tourists. Managing the number of visitors allowed at a time into these wahi pana helps to protect their fragile ecosystems. Two such destinations are (left) Hanauma Bay on O'ahu ( Photo : © segawa7/Adobe Stock ) and (right) Hā'ena State Park on Kaua'i (Photo: © nizePhotos/Adobe Stock).

RESHAPING TOURISM

Continued from page 12 consumptive and more authentic travel experience that includes supporting loeal businesses and volunteerism. "The market is showing signs of arcing toward better environmental awareness and cultural sensitivity," said De Fries. "If I'm going to invest in a vacation or a trip, the experience has to be meaningful, and at the heart of meaningful experiences is authenticity - and authenticity cannot be imported. It cannot be fabricated. It cannot be counterfeited. It ean only eome ffom one plaee - the community." "For decades Hawai'i has been promoted as a playground. Thats a very shallow identity of Hawai'i," said De Fries. "Beyond being a plaee of rejuvenation and recreation, Hawai'i is a plaee of deep spirituality. It is a plaee that has a legacy of innovation and more than a millennia of accrued native intelligence." Supporting Native Hawaiian culture and community is one of HTA's pillars and they work with the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA) and others to educate industry professionals about Hawaiian values to help them provide authentic experiences to visitors. NaHHA not only hosts cultural training for industry professionals, it also collaborates with other organizations, promoting 'Ōiwi-owned businesses through their online Kuhikuhi directory and creating visitor-volunteer opportunities with travel2change. "There are aspects of Hawaiian culture that are meant to be shared, and others that Hawaiians consider to be just for us. Maintaining halanee sometimes means we have to set limits on what is - and is not - accessible to visitors," said Mālia Sanders, NaHHA executive director. "I am constantly seeking this halanee. It is something we should all be more mindful of as we look for new ways to navigate tourism and find halanee in sharing what is uniquely Hawaiian." The communities of eaeh island will ultimately shape the "brand" or the unique experiences for their island, said Ka'anā'anā. To this end, and with community input, HTA has developed destination management action plans for Kaua'i, Maui, Moloka'i, Lāna'i and Hawai'i Island. "My ask is that we, as kānaka, don't run away from tourism and just throw rocks from the outside, but that we engage with it, see the opportunity that we have to influence it, and then reshape and change it," said Ka'anā'anā, who joined HTA five years ago because he did not feel Hawaiians were involved in the tourism dis-

At the outset of the C0VID-19 pondemic, when Howoi'i went into o loekelown ond tourism holted, komo'ōino experienced - most of us for the first time - whot it was like to enjoy our beaches without crowds of tourists. This generated important conversations about sustainability, eeonomie diversity and managing tourism in o way that benefits our people and our 'ōino. This ieonie pandemic photo of deserted Waikikī Beacn on o glorious summer day was taken in late May 2020. - Photo: Jason tees

cussion in a meaningful way. Beyond tourism, some Native Hawaiians want to see greater change and are advancing plans for a stronger and more sustainable Hawai'i founded on aina aloha. During the pandemic a diverse coalition of 'Ōiwi leaders created the 'Āina Aloha Eeonomie Futures (AAEF) Initiative and drafted an action agenda that calls for, among other things, the adoption of a regenerative visitor economy and support for emerging eeonomie sectors to reduce the dependence on tourism. "Our solutions eome ffom islands, not ffom continents. We need to talk about how we ean generate more of our own power, address our food independence, and be less dependent on imported goods," said Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, one of the founding members of AAEF. ' All of those things are not new. We just need to remind ourselves and to have our whole system - political leaders, businesses, community organizations and individuals - to engage in the changes and take responsibility for them." In terms of tourism, Wong-Wilson, who onee worked

in the visitor industry, supports the use of carrying eapacity numbers and user fees, as long as they are specifically earmarked to care for the environment and cultural resources that are impacted. Over the course of a year, more than 2,700 individuals, o_rganizations and businesses, including HTA, signed the 'Āina Aloha Eeonomie Futures Initiative Declaration. Leaders in government, industry and politics are using the initiative's assessment tools, proposals and vision. The county councils for Maui, Kaua'i and Hawai'i Island have already signed the declaration and are using the tools. Wong-Wilson added that the Hawai'i State Legislature's Native Hawaiian Caucus has reviewed the initiative's policy ideas, whieh include proposals to invest in loeal food systems and eeonomie equity. ■ Lisa Huynh Eller is a freelance writer, editor and project manager based out ofHilo, Hawai'i. She is aformer reporterfor West Hawai'i Today in Kailua-Kona, and a graduate of the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Journalistn Program.