Rawlins-Fernandez presented a plan to the Board of Water Supply that would help to conserve water. Tourists also use a large amount of water. “It makes it a little less affordable for those who have no connections to Hawaii,” she says. Revenue from this tax is used to provide services to visitors. Two years ago, the Maui County Council created a 3% transient accommodations tax. Gado/Gado via Getty ImagesĪnother way the state and county can manage tourists is through costs. She says the longer-term tourist, who bought property on the island and lives there part time, contributes to the overcrowding.Įxtremely long security lines extending beyond the terminal building and onto the street were seen in August 2022 outside Maui's Kahului Airport. A tourist is someone who has no ties whatsoever. A visitor is someone who has a connection to Hawaii in some way, and there are people who can hold that person accountable for their actions. Rawlins-Fernandez has different definitions for tourists and visitors. “The community’s also lost shoreline and beaches - canoe clubs have been pushed out - for resort development.” This all falls under lodging.
“One of the really devastating impacts that the tourism industry has had on Maui Island is the loss of housing stock,” Rawlins-Fernandez says. Maui Bill 159, introduced by Rawlins-Fernandez, passed last year and puts a cap on the number of transient vacation rentals. We have made a pretty concerted effort the last four years to limit the amount of vacation rentals.”
“As a county councilperson, one of the things that we do have control over is lodging. “The federal government is the one who has the power to limit the number of flights and seats,” says Rawlins-Fernandez. How Maui visitor numbers can be controlledĭifferent levels of government have the authority to control the number of visitors. If there are no accommodations, then there’s no invitation. “The ultimate lever of controlling how many visitors are on an island at any given time is accommodations,” says Gionson. Basically, if a sign says private property, it doesn’t mean to trespass - but an invitation can also come in other forms, too. He emphasizes the importance of traveling mindfully, by understanding local customs, following the law and only visiting places where there is an invitation. “It’s less about the 9 million people it’s more about the nine people, who are where they shouldn’t be or at a time that they shouldn’t be there.” “Oftentimes with tourism, we focus on the big number of arrivals, but what people on the ground can feel more are the smaller numbers of people in specific places at the same time,” says Ilihia Gionson, a spokesperson for HTA. The Hawaii Tourism Authority, the state agency responsible for managing tourism on the islands, thinks the way visitors are traveling is causing more issues than how many are traveling. It has become a popular tourist destination on the island. Kaanapali Beach is on the west shore of the island of Maui. Instead of one-third, or 33%, the daily number of visitors is averaging 43% of the population. The first four months of 2023 saw a daily average of 66,517 visitors - quite a bit over the desired number. The population of Maui is about 154,000 one-third of that is 51,300.
The maximum number of tourists per day is supposed to be one-third of the resident population, or one tourist for every three residents, as mentioned in the 2012-2030 Maui Island Plan, a blueprint for decision-makers that’s part of the Maui County Code.
“The saying goes that Maui has been loved to death, so it would be really nice for Maui Island to get a break from the amount of tourists that we’re getting,” Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, a member of the Maui County Council, tells SFGATE. Statistics show that another increase is coming: The first four months of 2023 saw 969,943 visitors to Maui, while the previous year had 870,445 in the same time period.īut is that something to celebrate when the island isn’t built to handle this many tourists? Earlier this year, Fodor put Maui on its “No List” for 2023, citing overtourism issues and conflicts between the tourism industry and Native Hawaiians. In 2022, Maui had 2.9 million visitors, compared with 3 million in 2019. Two years since COVID-19 shut Hawaii down, Maui's visitor numbers are increasing, close to breaking even with pre-pandemic metrics. It was a cry for help for an island drowning in tourists. When a surge of tourists traveled to Maui in 2021, the mayor at the time asked the airlines to bring fewer people to the island, knowing he had no authority to make that call. The number of visitors to Maui is increasing every year.
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