Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 6, 1 June 2020 — Revisiting Tourism [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Revisiting Tourism

Endless acres of empty sand at Waikīkī Beach has been the new normal since the March stay-at-home order and travel quarantines were mandated. - Photo: Jason iees

They say that there's opportunity in every crisis, and the deeper the crisis, the better the opportunity. Opportunity is knocking. By far Hawai'i's largest industry, tourism is the engine that drives Hawai'i's economy. When that engine breaks down, that's a pretty major crisis. With tourism suddenly halted because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the empty airplanes, vacant hotel rooms, closed restaurants, deserted beaches and uncertain future left everyone asking the same question: where do we go from here? The word crisis eome from the Greek, meaning "to sift, or to separate." It means to pass judgment and keep only what is worthwhile. In Hawai'i, those discussions have begun. "This global pandemic is an extreme event that has forced everyone to take a hard look at tourism and its role here," said Manu Ka'iama, an instructor at both the Shidler College of Business and the Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i. "Most people in Hawai'i, especially kānaka, already know that tourism has been eomplicit in helping to destroy beautiful and unique aspects of this special plaee for decades now. The pandemic has forced everyone else to admit that Hawai'i's dependence upon tourism is not sustainable and not pono." Ka'iama, who has studied island sustainability and successful eeonomie models for independent island nations, said that if it were up to her, she would phase out tourism over a long period of time, noting that some population estimates say up to one million Hawaiians sustained themselves, without tourism, prior to contact. But at a minimum, she wants Hawaiians to have a seat at the table with politicians, developers, government, business and tourism officials in deciding how Hawai'i best moves forward in the wake of the pandemic. "Actually, they need a seat at our table," Ka'iama said. "That's the problem, it's backwards and that paradigm needs to change. We don't have the influence that they have through money, but this is our home and we need to be insistent that we be heard. I would like the community to be very maka'ala. SEE T0URISM ON PAGE 16

T0URISM Continuedfrompage15 "It' s sad because this is our home, and most people who eall Hawai'i home have absolutely no say in how Hawai'i should be. Especially the kānaka who have had our culture exploited, our lands destroyed, our oceans polluted, and our fresh water sources depleted and diverted for big business rather than for use by sustainable farmers and communities." Tourism in Hawai'i was humming at record numbers before the pandemic. More than 10 million people visited Hawai'i in 2019, and on average a quarter million visitors were in Hawai'i on any given day. In 2018, tourism provided 217,000 jobs, or more than one in six in Hawai'i. Tourism-related tax payments to state and county governments amounted to more than $2 hillion of total revenues; and direct spending by visitors totaled more than $17 hillion.

Tourism is so big it's considerec the base on whieh all other industry in Hawai'i is predicated. But how big is too big? And at what cost tc kama'āina? "Too many of us slipped into £ default mode. We eame to aeeepl the eeonomie changes and the continuous drumbeat of eeonomie growth," said Joe Lapilio, the president of the Native Hawaiiar Chamber of Commerce who has run his own consulting firm for 2C years specializing in organizational and community development. "When it all shut down, we saw what we gave up to pursue thc dreams and aspirations of others many of them not even here ir Hawai'i," he said. "We see now that where we were prior to COVID-19 was actually £ ehoiee. We are the drivers of the business and eeonomie perspective We cannot leave it in the hands ol others when it is us who pay the price."

Lapilio said Hawai'i is not Disneyland and it's not Las Vegas. Nor should it be. "The hordes of people pouring in and out are just numbers," he said. "What are the outcomes we want for our residents and for our visitors? The measure we should aim at is the quality of the experience for all parties. "Tourism should serve us, not the other way around. We need to better manage this. Who are we? What are we willing to share? What is that worth? And at what price?" Lapilio said there are actions Hawai'i ean take to help limit its dependence on tourism. "Hawai'i has a role in the 2 1 st century and mueh of what we ean offer is connected to our history and culture. Our approaches to land use, agriculture, science and technology are just a few of the possibilities of what we ean do. The world

needs an island perspective," he said. Kaimana Barcarse is the West Hawai'i Regional Director of Community Engagement & Resources at Kamehameha Schools and a member of the state Board of Education. He is a deep-sea voyager and captain, carries a master's degree in Hawaiian language and literature from UH Hilo, and is heavily involved with Hawaiian-focused community organizations, boards and councils. Barcarse advocates for the use of "Kanakanomics," a term that has seen muhiple definitions by various groups, in rethinking Hawai'i's approach to tourism. "Lor me, Kanakanomics is a mindset that results in intentional and well thought out actions that are made for the benefit of our lāhui in present day, and for generations to eome," he said. "It's a eommon understanding that the Hawai'i of today is not beneficial for most kānaka, and we need to do something about it. It is seizing the moment and creating a new normal that will empower and allow kānaka to thrive in their own

; Onee densely crowded sidewalks full of tourists and shoppers have heeome wide open lanes for joggers and loeal families walking pets - Photo: Jason iees

communities and homelands." When it comes to right-sizing tourism, Barcarse said he has some some ideas. "We need to redefine and refine our values, then build up accordingly. We need to recognize and admit that the old norm had many flaws, including an over reliance on the industry ideas of tourism and what it should be, and work together to create a new norm, one where we heavily inhuenee the narrative and one that benefits the many rather than the few," he said. "We need to create opportunities and industries that our 'āina will bear, ones that are regenerative and not extractive. We have 'ike and culture that have been appropriated and exploited. It's time to take it back and move it forward in a pono way."

Barcarse said that even though we may find ourselves in trying times, there are examples of innovation, resilience, excellence, 'ike and aloha to follow. "This ma'i ahulau has disrupted many of the systems and constructs that have disadvantaged kānaka for decades," he said. "This is our ehanee to be the change. While many will look for government and big business to get us back to normal, we have the opportunity, more so - the kuleana - to inhuenee and create a new normal that benefits kānaka." "We didn't need a pandemic to know that we were overly dependent on one industry and that tourism has dominated for a long time," said Kalani Ka'anā'anā, the Director of Hawaiian Cultural Affairs & Natural Resources for the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. "If anything, it's given us the pause to sort of rethink it and imagine what's next. It's given us time to dream again." Ka'anā'anā said in January of this year the HTA board of directors created a new five-year strategic plan that basically reorganizes the way they think about what they do - shift-

ing from tourism marketing to tourism management. "That plan was in response to what we were already feeling from the eommunity. There was this sense that we weren't managing this well. We need to engage tourism because if we're not leading it, we're not a part of it and we're not shaping it," he said. "We understand that our eommunities have to help us define what that rate of tourism should be, and what is appropriate for their particular plaee. It's on us to connect with them, and we get that everything is contextual, everything is plaee based and every community is different across the islands." Ka'anā'anā said tourism provides jobs, tax revenue and billions in visitor spending - and that is important and keeps businesses alive - but at what price? "It's our largest eeonomie driver and it does all these wonderful things, and so for us we just got really good at it and we got into this mass industrial

type of tourism, but the days of that have to be over," he said. "I think there's actually a lot of room for us to agree and say that tourism hasn't benefited all of the people of Hawai'i, and it hasn't done a good enough job of improving the quality of life for all of us. "The companies and corporations will develop businesses that they want to see because they're the leaders - they're the ones thinking it. But we as Hawaiians, as all the residents of this state, I would invite all of us to engage the industry in meaningful dialogue as we move forward." NHCC president Lapilio said he is looking forward to that dialogue. "We owe it to our ancestors to continue to be strong and to persevere," he said. "We owe it to our descendants to be smart and to make this work. This is our time." ■

By Ed Kalama "E hele me ka pu 'olo; Make every person, place or condition better than you left it always." - 'Olelo No'eau ■ma \ _ 4