James Mak
Hawaii Tourism Authority and Sustainable Destination Management In Hawaii
The first rule in tourism development is that the wellbeing of destination residents must come first. Unfortunately, the majority of Hawaii residents now think that tourism in Hawaii is being run for tourists at the expense of local residents. The perception of being relegated to second class was first reported by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) in […]
Read MoreTo Tax or Not to Tax: Making a High-Quality State Revenue/Tax System
By James Mak When Hawaii’s state lawmakers gather each year at the State Capitol to begin their annual legislative session, tinkering with the tax system always seems to consume much of their work. Hawaii citizens can count on seeing a slew of bills introduced to raise taxes on somebody while other bills are introduced to […]
Read MoreCharting a New Fiscal Course for Hawaii: A Fiscal Architecture Approach
The Hawai’i Executive Conference (HEC)’s recent report, Troubled Waters: Charting a New Fiscal Course For Hawaii, makes a compelling case for the Hawaii community to focus on “the future fiscal capacity of Hawaii state and local governments.” HEC examines three public expenditure challenges totaling $88.4 billion that residents will likely face over the next thirty […]
Read MoreIs Leasehold Housing Built on Government Land a Solution to Unaffordable Housing in Honolulu?
Housing is expensive on Oahu. For most middle-class Honolulu households, even buying a median-priced condominium ($415,000 in February 2019) is financially out of reach. Some state lawmakers propose to remedy the situation by developing high-density leasehold condominiums on state-owned and city-owned land near rail transit stations on the Honolulu rapid transit system now under construction […]
Read MoreCharting a New Course For Hawai‘i Tourism
Despite a string of record visitor arrivals now totaling almost ten million annually, Hawai‘i tourism shows signs of trouble. Inflation-adjusted spending per visitor has trended downward. Diminishing economic contribution, eroding resident sentiment, and increasing congestion and stress on sites and attractions provide evidence that the current governance model is inadequate for effectively managing the increasingly […]
Read MoreSome thoughts on property taxes and school funding
By Carl Bonham and James Mak Voters will soon be weighing in on a possible amendment to Hawaii’s constitution. The ballot question is, “Shall the legislature be authorized to establish, as provided by law, a surcharge on investment real property to be used to support public education?” 1 Unfortunately, this language provides no definition of […]
Read MoreMandatory Food Waste Recycling Ordinance for Large Food Establishments in Honolulu, Hawaii
A recent study by two University of Hawaii at Manoa researchers estimates that more than 26% of the available food supply in Hawaii is discarded each year. Food waste occurs at all stages of the food supply chain– after food is harvested, during packaging, shipping and storage, and finally by consumers. Since most of the […]
Read MoreIs the Hawaii Convention Center Profitable?
By James Mak In his testimony before the House Committee on Tourism on February 13, 2018, Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) CEO George Szegeti said “In CY2017 the convention center turned a net operating profit of $1.1 million, marking its second consecutive year of profitability.” This is surprising news, indeed. Convention centers in the U.S. are […]
Read MoreRethinking Hawaii Tourism: Time to Shift from Marketing to Managing Tourism?
We know from Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) resident surveys that Hawaii residents perceive tourism is our economic lifeline, but it is also a cause of significant number of problems in our lives. Even though most respondents still think tourism brings more benefits than costs to our state, the percent of those who think otherwise has […]
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