Economic Perspective of Maui’s Devastating WildfiresSeptember 8, 2023By James Mak, Paul Brewbaker, and Frank Haas Lahaina is a very special place with so much deep, rich history. Over time, it's evolved. It's been many things. It's been the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It's been home base for generations of Maui chiefs. It's been a center of commerce in whaling. It's been… Read More
What Does It Mean for HTA to be Administratively Attached to DBEDT?August 8, 2023By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) was established by Act 156 in 1998 and is administratively attached to the State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). HTA’s mission is “To strategically manage Hawaii tourism in a sustainable manner consistent with the economic goals, cultural values, preservation of… Read More
Are Businesses Heavily Taxed in Hawai’i?July 6, 2023By James Mak A recent report—Total State and Local Business Taxes—published by Ernst & Young LLP, State Tax Research Institute, and Council on State Taxation presents detailed state-by-state estimates of state and local taxes paid by businesses in Fiscal Year 2021. The report (hereafter referred to as the Ernst & Young report) is in its… Read More
Hawai‘i Should Adopt a “Whole of Government” Approach to Destination ManagementApril 29, 2023Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak Hawai‘i has a long history of publishing community-based tourism plans with various version of these plans going back to the 1970s. Despite these well-intentioned efforts, tourism in Hawai‘i has not been effectively managed and has, thus far, been unable to achieve the vision articulated by the Hawai‘i Tourism… Read More
Dissolving the Hawaii Tourism AuthorityApril 5, 2023Read the full UHERO brief. By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak State lawmakers in the 2023 state legislature are bashing the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA)…again! This year, the existence of HTA is at stake. Two bills (Senate Bill SB 1522 SD2 and House Bill HB1375 SD3) propose to repeal the HTA although they… Read More
Dissolving the Hawaii Tourism AuthorityApril 5, 2023Read the summary blog post. By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak State lawmakers in the 2023 state legislature are bashing the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA)…again! This year, the existence of HTA is at stake. Two bills (Senate Bill SB 1522 SD2 and House Bill HB1375 SD3) propose to repeal the HTA although they… Read More
Time for A Carbon Tax for Hawaii?January 11, 2023By James Mak and Erik Haites Hawaii’s constitution requires a Tax Review Commission (TRC) be appointed every five years to review the state’s tax/revenue system. Commissioners comprise of tax experts in the state and serve without compensation. In its final report to the Legislature, the 2020-2022 Tax Review Commission’s top recommendation is a carbon tax… Read More
Rethinking HTA’s “Regenerative Tourism Fee”November 14, 2022By James Mak and Robert D. Ebel Hawaii Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Oahu Destination Management Action Plan (DMAP) proposes to “Establish a ‘Regenerative Tourism Fee’ (RTF) that directly supports programs to regenerate Hawaii’s resources, protect natural resources, and address unfunded conservation liabilities.” The proposed RTF is more commonly referred to as a “visitor green fee.” The… Read More
Hawai‘i Tourism in Search of the Promised LandOctober 10, 2022By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas and James Mak Public pressure has been mounting on the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) to shift its focus from mainly marketing to destination management to mitigate tourism’s negative impacts on the community. HTA’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan states that “This is the first strategic plan developed while HTA is re-balancing our… Read More
To Tax or Not to Tax Sale of Food and MedicineAugust 15, 2022By James Mak Inflation is soaring at the highest rate since the early 1980s. Not surprisingly, many Hawaii residents are struggling financially today. Sadly, this has been true long before the pandemic and the recent spike in prices. In 2018, 42% of Hawaii households struggled to make ends meet; 33% were ALICE households, households that… Read More
Private Actions to Combat Climate Change Through Offsetting: The Story of The Coconut TravelerApril 7, 2022By Kimberly Burnett, James Mak and Christopher Wada In late 2021, the United Nations (UN) held its 26th climate change conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. Among the many agreements that emerged from the conference was a coordinated plan for tourism climate action (Glasgow Declaration) to cut tourism’s global carbon emissions in half over the next… Read More
Charging Visitors to Access Hawaii’s State Parks and Natural Recreation AreasMarch 18, 2022By Kimberly Burnett, James Mak and Christopher Wada Senate Bill S.B. 3192 S.D.2 in the current (2022) legislative session proposes to: "establish a visitor impact fee program, to be administered bythe department of land and natural resources, as a license requiredby visitors for usage of Hawaii's public beaches, parks, trails, coastlines,and environment. The purpose of… Read More
Should Hawaii Levy a Visitor Green Fee to Protect Our Environment?November 2, 2021By James Mak Since the visitor to the Islands unquestionablycontributes significantly to the State’senvironmental problems, he will no doubthave to bear a substantial portion of the outlays needed for their solution. William Baumol1970 IntroductionMore than 50 years ago in 1970 when Hawaii hosted a relatively paltry 1.7 million visitors, Princeton University economist, William Baumol, authored… Read More
Hawaii Needs to Focus on Developing Good Governance in Managing TourismOctober 13, 2021By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak In order to develop and apply policies for tourism in destinations, there is usually a requirement for knowledge, thought, the application of power, resources and rules, and also coordination and cooperation among numerous actors. Together, these are the key features of governance. Bill BramwellSheffield Hallem UniversityUK At the… Read More
Taxing Tourists to Generate Revenue to Address the Negative Impacts of Climate Change on Hawai‘i Natural Resources April 5, 2024 There is widespread agreement among Hawai‘i residents that the state government needs to spend more money on natural resource stewardship. A critical question is how best to pay for it. In his January 2024 State of the State Address, Governor Josh Green said that “we must do more to protect our beaches, parks, and other… Read More
Economic Perspective of Maui’s Devastating Wildfires September 8, 2023 By James Mak, Paul Brewbaker, and Frank Haas Lahaina is a very special place with so much deep, rich history. Over time, it's evolved. It's been many things. It's been the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It's been home base for generations of Maui chiefs. It's been a center of commerce in whaling. It's been… Read More
What Does It Mean for HTA to be Administratively Attached to DBEDT? August 8, 2023 By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) was established by Act 156 in 1998 and is administratively attached to the State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). HTA’s mission is “To strategically manage Hawaii tourism in a sustainable manner consistent with the economic goals, cultural values, preservation of… Read More
Are Businesses Heavily Taxed in Hawai’i? July 6, 2023 By James Mak A recent report—Total State and Local Business Taxes—published by Ernst & Young LLP, State Tax Research Institute, and Council on State Taxation presents detailed state-by-state estimates of state and local taxes paid by businesses in Fiscal Year 2021. The report (hereafter referred to as the Ernst & Young report) is in its… Read More
Hawai‘i Should Adopt a “Whole of Government” Approach to Destination Management April 29, 2023 Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak Hawai‘i has a long history of publishing community-based tourism plans with various version of these plans going back to the 1970s. Despite these well-intentioned efforts, tourism in Hawai‘i has not been effectively managed and has, thus far, been unable to achieve the vision articulated by the Hawai‘i Tourism… Read More
Dissolving the Hawaii Tourism Authority April 5, 2023 Read the full UHERO brief. By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak State lawmakers in the 2023 state legislature are bashing the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA)…again! This year, the existence of HTA is at stake. Two bills (Senate Bill SB 1522 SD2 and House Bill HB1375 SD3) propose to repeal the HTA although they… Read More
Time for A Carbon Tax for Hawaii? January 11, 2023 By James Mak and Erik Haites Hawaii’s constitution requires a Tax Review Commission (TRC) be appointed every five years to review the state’s tax/revenue system. Commissioners comprise of tax experts in the state and serve without compensation. In its final report to the Legislature, the 2020-2022 Tax Review Commission’s top recommendation is a carbon tax… Read More
Rethinking HTA’s “Regenerative Tourism Fee” November 14, 2022 By James Mak and Robert D. Ebel Hawaii Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Oahu Destination Management Action Plan (DMAP) proposes to “Establish a ‘Regenerative Tourism Fee’ (RTF) that directly supports programs to regenerate Hawaii’s resources, protect natural resources, and address unfunded conservation liabilities.” The proposed RTF is more commonly referred to as a “visitor green fee.” The… Read More
Hawai‘i Tourism in Search of the Promised Land October 10, 2022 By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas and James Mak Public pressure has been mounting on the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) to shift its focus from mainly marketing to destination management to mitigate tourism’s negative impacts on the community. HTA’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan states that “This is the first strategic plan developed while HTA is re-balancing our… Read More
To Tax or Not to Tax Sale of Food and Medicine August 15, 2022 By James Mak Inflation is soaring at the highest rate since the early 1980s. Not surprisingly, many Hawaii residents are struggling financially today. Sadly, this has been true long before the pandemic and the recent spike in prices. In 2018, 42% of Hawaii households struggled to make ends meet; 33% were ALICE households, households that… Read More
Private Actions to Combat Climate Change Through Offsetting: The Story of The Coconut Traveler April 7, 2022 By Kimberly Burnett, James Mak and Christopher Wada In late 2021, the United Nations (UN) held its 26th climate change conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. Among the many agreements that emerged from the conference was a coordinated plan for tourism climate action (Glasgow Declaration) to cut tourism’s global carbon emissions in half over the next… Read More
Charging Visitors to Access Hawaii’s State Parks and Natural Recreation Areas March 18, 2022 By Kimberly Burnett, James Mak and Christopher Wada Senate Bill S.B. 3192 S.D.2 in the current (2022) legislative session proposes to: "establish a visitor impact fee program, to be administered bythe department of land and natural resources, as a license requiredby visitors for usage of Hawaii's public beaches, parks, trails, coastlines,and environment. The purpose of… Read More
Should Hawaii Levy a Visitor Green Fee to Protect Our Environment? November 2, 2021 By James Mak Since the visitor to the Islands unquestionablycontributes significantly to the State’senvironmental problems, he will no doubthave to bear a substantial portion of the outlays needed for their solution. William Baumol1970 IntroductionMore than 50 years ago in 1970 when Hawaii hosted a relatively paltry 1.7 million visitors, Princeton University economist, William Baumol, authored… Read More
Hawaii Needs to Focus on Developing Good Governance in Managing Tourism October 13, 2021 By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak In order to develop and apply policies for tourism in destinations, there is usually a requirement for knowledge, thought, the application of power, resources and rules, and also coordination and cooperation among numerous actors. Together, these are the key features of governance. Bill BramwellSheffield Hallem UniversityUK At the… Read More