Only licensed hotels would be permitted: Hawaii could ban short-term vacation rentals for good (sfgate.com)
Hawaii does not have much seasonality in tourism, consequently, everything is expensive all year.
Some in Hawaii, in the recent past, have said they would prefer to have fewer tourists who are rich, and spend more money – similar to New Zealand and other destinations, Hawaii wants to restructure tourism to focus on the wealthy elite travelers:
- Hawaii proposes “climate fee” tax on tourists – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking
- Hawaii proposes “tourism fee”, “climate fees” for tourists – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking
- Hawaii proposing to charge each visitor $50 tourist tax – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking (for a family for four, that would be a $200 tax to enter the state – after which how many other U.S. states would start to charge entry fees?)
- By design, Hawaii has become unaffordable for most travelers – Coldstreams Travel and Global Thinking
I have never been to Hawaii but had planned to go in 2020, which of course did not happen. At the time, I had done a full travel plan and priced out everything – today, it seems much more expensive. I am no longer sure it has the right value proposition and we might never visit Hawaii.