Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 6, 1 June 2021 — What is Aloha? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

What is Aloha?

J LEO 'ELELE < ^ TRUSTEE MESSAGES *

Reeent artieles about restarting our Hawaiian tourist eeonomy have eaused me to refleet on the importanee of aloha and what it means to the state and to the Native Hawaiians who share our eulture and weleome visitors to our shores from aeross the globe. I have been an enterx itavc ueen aii eiiiei

tainer in the tourism industry for over 45 years, and first began performing hula professionally at the age of 10 in Keaukaha, Hawai'i Island, for keiki shows at the Naniloa Hotel and for the Lurline when it doeked in Hilo. When our family moved to O'ahu for better job opportunities for my dad, I performed at the International Market Plaee in Waikīkī and later toured Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Taiwan, the Philippines and Guam dancing with Aunty Dorothy Kalima. As an adult, I entertained oversees for both Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines, at resort hotels on Maui, for corporate and business leaders, and for worldclass entertainers such as Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey. I made many lasting friends among the visitors and fellow dancers, musicians, fire dancers, booking agents and hotel support staff I welcomed and met along the way. Aloha was ever-present. In between these experiences I raised a family, had children and grandchildren who continued to learn, practice, and share our Hawaiian culture, and developed a rewarding and satisfying daytime career in government administration, housing, and real estate. As Hawai'i restarts its eeonomy in the wake of this pandemic, warnings are being sounded about the fear of unchecked overtourism whieh treads too heavily on Hawai'i's aina and on Hawai'i's resident population.

In pre-pandemic 2019, visitor arrivals to Hawai'i exceeded 10.4 million annually, while resident satisfaction with tourism plummeted from 80% in 2010 to 59% in 2018. The message is clear. While Hawai'i's economy is dependent on tourism, the more tourists that arrive, especially in numbers approaching those we registered in 2018, the less satisfied with tourism

our residents appear to be, and the greater the likelihood that what distinguishes Hawai'i from all other vacation destinations - aloha - may be at jeopardy of being lessened and diminished if this trend continues. This has caused me to ask: what is aloha? For me, having and expressing aloha is like having a full eup of kindness, compassion and aeeeptance whieh overflows ffom one person to another, leaving the recipient feeling valued and cared for. Having and showing aloha requires discipline, especially when the person expressing or giving aloha has had a bad day, or their own eup is less than full. And it requires courage, especially when offering one's gifts and talents to another includes the potential that those gifts may not be accepted, with a very real possibility of ensuing personal rejection. How ean we ensure that aloha remains a key ingredient of tourism in Hawai'i? Take afhrmative steps to manage our tourism, regulate the number ofvisitors to fragile places and eeosystems and mitigate the impacts caused, and finally, thank and eall upon the 40,000 plus Native Hawaiians now employed in Hawai'i's tourist industry to assist in making sure that our Native Hawaiian eulture, our Native Hawaiian traditions, and aloha are central to the visitor strategies and management plans created. ■

Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey Chair, Trustee, Maui