O‘AHU
I. Introduction
PURPOSE OF THE PLAN
In 2019, the Hawaiian Islands received a record high of 10.4 million visitors. While this brought in $17.75 billion in total visitor spending to Hawai‘i’s businesses, $2.07 billion in taxes generated, and supported 216,000 jobs statewide, it has put pressure on our destinations and communities. This situation is not unique to Hawai‘i. Other popular destinations – from Venice, Italy to Machu Picchu, Peru, to Kyoto, Japan
– have also felt the negative efects of tourism, which not only impacts residents’ quality of life but also the quality of the visitor experience.
In recognition of these challenges, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), in partnership with the counties and the respective visitor bureaus, initiated the process of developing community-based Destination Management Action Plans (DMAPs) that aim to rebuild, redefne and reset the direction of tourism over a three-year period. The focus is on stabilization, recovery, and rebuilding of the desired visitor industry for each island. The actions put forth in the DMAPs are guided by an island-based Steering Committee, that went through a collaborative process which encouraged participation and vital input from the community, visitor industry and other sectors. The DMAPs identify areas of need as well as actionable solutions for enhancing the residents’ quality of life and improving the visitor experience across the islands.
HTA’s 2020-2025 Strategic Plan is organized around four interacting pillars – Natural Resources, Hawaiian Culture, Community, and Brand Marketing, with more emphasis on addressing tourism impacts and greater destination management. In the plan, HTA defned Destination Management to include:
• attracting and educating responsible visitors;
• advocating for solutions to overcrowded attractions, overtaxed infrastructure, and other tourism-related problems; and
• working with other responsible agencies to improve natural and cultural assets valued by both Hawai‘i residents and visitors.
The idea of “regenerative tourism” gained momentum in 2020, as the global COVID-19 pandemic has increased awareness of tourism’s opportunities and vulnerabilities. What is regenerative tourism? About 15 years ago, the model for “sustainable tourism” was instituted, built on tourism that was environmentally friendly, culturally sensitive and had less impact than high numbers of visitors. Regenerative tourism takes sustainability one step further and focuses on the net beneft of the visitor economy to a destination, looking at social and cultural benefts and costs.
“Regenerative tourism is bolder and more inspiring. It aims not just to do less harm, but to go on and restore the harm that our system has already done to the natural world, and by using nature’s principles, to create the conditions of life to fourish. It views wholes and not parts and is a very diferent way of looking at the world.” (Anna Pollock, international tourism consultant and founder of Conscious Travel)
Many of the actions in this plan take a regenerative tourism approach.
The DMAP initiative is a part of HTA’s strategic vision and plan to manage Hawai‘i tourism in a responsible and regenerative manner.
FORMATION OF THE DMAP
The process of the development of the O‘ahu DMAP started with HTA, the City & County of Honolulu’s Ofce of Economic Revitalization and the O‘ahu Visitors Bureau (OVB) developing a list of O‘ahu stakeholders who represented the visitor industry sectors (hotel, attractions, activities), other business sectors (e.g. agriculture, retail), the community (e.g. Hawaiian culture, education, regional), and other nonproft organizations. They also represented the communities that they live in. Invitations were sent, and 23 members volunteered their time to participate on the O‘ahu Steering Committee (see Acknowledgement section).
During the frst Steering Committee virtual meeting, the members reviewed HTA’s Strategic Plan, including HTA’s key performance indicators and four pillars, which is the foundation of the O‘ahu DMAP. The group
critically examined destination attributes valued only by residents, only by visitors, and by both residents visitors, as well as those that are at-risk or threatened. The Steering Committee also discussed several goals and a vision for tourism on O‘ahu. From there, they brainstormed actions – what to protect or mitigate, what to preserve or grow, and where the gap can be closed or bridged. During subsequent meetings, the actions were grouped, and overarching anchor actions and sub-actions were identifed. The proposed actions were then presented to residents during two virtual community presentations on May 4 and 5, 2021. The community was encouraged to provide their input during the presentations as well as through an online input form.
After reviewing the community feedback, the Steering Committee met virtually. They revised the actions and ranked the anchor actions in order of importance. HTA staf, the City and OVB reviewed the proposed actions to confrm they could be done under their respective purviews. The Steering Committee held additional meetings to review the revised list of actions and provide comments and adjustments. All of the anchor actions were developed by the Steering Committee with input from the community.
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK
Hawai‘i’s tourism industry is at a critical point and residents’ livelihoods depend on the recovery of the visitor industry – directly or indirectly. Tourism needs to be managed responsibly so that residents and destinations can thrive. HTA is leading many of the eforts in the O‘ahu Destination Management Action Plan. However, there needs to be collaboration and support from other state and county agencies, the community, the visitor industry and other sectors, to help move the actions forward. This is a three-year plan and a living document that will be evaluated annually against key performance indicators.
II. Overview of Tourism in Hawai‘i
STATEWIDE TRENDS
Tourism has remained the primary economic driver for Hawai‘i’s economy across all islands. In 2019, tourism was 16.2% of Hawai‘i Gross Domestic Product (GDP), second to real estate and rental and leasing at 18.8% of Hawai‘i GDP. Jobs in the tourism industry accounted for 20% of total jobs in Hawai‘i while jobs in the real estate and rental and leasing sector accounted for 4.4% of total jobs. For eight consecutive years, the State of Hawai‘i’s visitor industry sustained annual growth in terms of arrivals and expenditures. In 2019, tourism was the largest single source of private capital for Hawai‘i’s economy. Total visitor spending reached $17.84 billion (1.1% increase compared to 2018).
‘A‘ohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia. “No task is too big when done together by all.”
‘OLELO NO‘EAU (HAWAIIAN PROVERB)
Tourism generated $2.08 billion in state tax revenue. A total of 10,424,995 visitors came to the Hawaiian Islands by either air service or cruise ship (5.4% increase over 2018).
The visitor industry has provided employment opportunities and supported the development of small businesses throughout the state. In 2019, tourism supported 216,000 jobs in Hawai‘i. For several years, the Hawaiian Islands experienced record visitor arrivals with no signifcant increase in the number of traditional lodging units (e.g., hotels and resorts). However, unpermitted short-term rentals increased in Hawai‘i’s neighborhoods.
Prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was set to be another year of unprecedented growth for Hawai‘i. However, fight cancellations to the Hawaiian Islands due to the pandemic began in February 2020, initially afecting the China market. On March 14, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began enforcing its “No Sail Order” on cruise ships. On March 17, Hawai‘i Governor David Ige asked upcoming visitors to postpone their trips for at least the next 30 days. The counties also began issuing stay-at-home orders. Efective March 26, all passengers arriving from out-of-state were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. By the end of March, most fights to Hawai‘i were cancelled, and the visitor industry was severely impacted. On April 1, the mandatory self-quarantine was extended to inter-island travel.
In 2020, total visitor arrivals declined 73.8 percent from the previous year to 2,716,195 visitors. There were signifcantly fewer arrivals by air service (-73.8% to 2,686,403). Arrivals by cruise ships (-79.2% to 29,792) also decreased considerably, as cruise ships were operating for only the frst few months of the year. Total visitor days fell 68.2 percent.
Visitor arrivals by air service decreased sharply in 2020 from the U.S. West (-71.6% to 1,306,388), U.S. East (-70.3% to 676,061), Japan (-81.1% to 297,243), Canada (-70.2% to 161,201) and All Other International Markets (-80.4% to 245,510).
Hawai‘i’s unemployment rate increased from 2.0 percent in the frst quarter of 2020 to 19.4 percent in the second quarter. After this peak, the unemployment rate continually declined to 14.5 percent in the third quarter, 11.2 percent in the fourth quarter, and then 7.7 percent in the second quarter of 2021.
RESIDENT SENTIMENT
HTA conducts an annual Resident Sentiment Survey (RSS) to gauge resident attitudes toward tourism in Hawai‘i and to identify perceived positive and negative
impacts of the visitor industry on residents. Positive resident sentiment is important to maintain a healthy industry. The 2019 RSS report showed that resident sentiment had generally weakened compared to the previous year. By extension, the quality of the visitor experience will likely decline if this trend continues. For now, the two are inexorably linked and changes are necessary to improve resident sentiment – there must be a better balance of economic, social and cultural, and community benefts from tourism. Providing residents with a voice in tourism development, creating jobs with opportunities for advancement, and creating shopping, dining and entertainment opportunities are key to improving resident sentiment.
TOURISM FORECAST
According to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s (DBEDT) 2021 Second Quarter Outlook for the Economy, visitor spending will increase 117.8 percent in 2021, to $11.1 billion, a 38 percent decline in expenditures from the pre-pandemic 2019 results. Visitor spending will then increase 34.0 percent in 2022, 12.9 percent in 2023, and 7.2 percent in 2024. Hawai‘i is expected to welcome 6.6 million visitors in 2021, a 36 percent decrease from 2019. Visitor arrivals are anticipated to increase to 8.6 million in 2022, 9.5 million in 2023, and 10.1 million in 2024.
DBEDT projects that for 2021, the average annual unemployment rate will be 7.7 percent, then decrease to 6.3 percent in 2022, 5.6 percent in 2023, and 5.0 percent in 2024. These rates are much higher than Hawai‘i’s average unemployment rate of 2.5 percent from 2017 to 2019.
TOURISM ON O‘AHU
Riding the surge of global travel in 2019, O‘ahu saw visitor arrivals reach a record 6.15 million visitors. Those visitors contributed $8.14 billion in expenditures to Hawai‘i’s economy. On average, visitors stayed 6.8 days and spent $195 per person per day.
Tourism on O‘ahu accounted for 45.6 percent of all tourism spending in Hawai‘i and supported 99,152 jobs (direct, indirect and induced).
There were 8.3 million scheduled trans-Pacifc air seats to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) – 4.0 million from U.S. West, 0.9 million from U.S. East, 1.9 million from Japan and 1.5 million from other countries. On O‘ahu there were 39,240 visitor lodging units, including 27,060 hotel units, 3,956 condo hotel units, 3,821 vacation rental units, 3,782 timeshare units, and 621 other types of units.
O‘ahu had an average hotel occupancy of 84 percent and an average daily rate of $235. Other visitor accommodations were also experiencing boom times (timeshare: 95% occupancy, vacation rentals: 75% occupancy). Approximately 60 percent of visitors stayed in hotels, while condo (10%), timeshare (10%) and rental houses (10%) were also well used.
Visitors commented that O‘ahu needed to improve its trafc situation which ultimately impacted their travel experience. They also stated that the island needed more local cultural experiences.
Overall 79 percent of O‘ahu visitors gave it high satisfaction marks 1. However, a study by DestinationNEXT2 found some concern that O‘ahu had issues with accessibility for disabled, walkability and bikeability, needed improvement in public Wi-Fi, and did not have enough outdoor recreation and sports facilities.
Visitors did less self-directed tours and driving around O‘ahu than on the other islands. Similar to the other islands, visitors visited the beach for sunbathing. However, they were less likely to swim in the ocean or hike.
At the same time, O‘ahu residents strongly felt that overcrowding, trafc problems, damage to the environment, and increased cost of living were problems being caused by tourism. Resident sentiment towards tourism had signifcantly weakened in 2019 compared to the previous year (the percentage of residents who said that the overall impact tourism had on their family was extremely positive was 24 percent positive in 2018 but 16 percent in 2019).3
Then in 2020, the consequences of the global pandemic resulted in visitor counts dropping 75 percent compared to the previous year. The number
of direct air seats into O‘ahu fell 60 percent. The visitor industry decline also resulted in a loss of jobs on O‘ahu, with accommodation jobs down 48 percent (-9,200 jobs) and food service, restaurants and drinking places losing 15,900 jobs for a 33 percent loss.
In May 2021, there were 310,744 visitors to O‘ahu, compared to 508,088 visitors in May 2019. Visitor spending was $418.3 million, down 39.5 percent from $691.1 million in May 2019. The average daily census showed that there were 80,895 visitors per day on O‘ahu in May 2021, compared to 109,584 visitors per day in May 2019.
Through the first five months of 2021, there were 925,147 visitors to O‘ahu compared to 2,462,487 visitors (-62.4%) in year-to-date 2019, and total visitor spending of $1.24 billion represented a 62.2 percent decrease from $3.29 billion in year-to-date 2019.
As more visitors arrive in the islands, the overall visitor satisfaction is trending downward from 85 percent rating their trip excellent at the beginning of 2021 to 76 percent in June 2021.4 The top complaints included limited capacity and availability of restaurants and attractions as well as fnding Hawai‘i too crowded. Further, fewer visitors indicated they did all the activities that they had planned for.
In the most recent Resident Sentiment Study5 released in June 2021, 55 percent of O‘ahu residents felt that tourism has brought more benefts than problems. This rating was higher than the other counties but had gone down slightly from 61 percent in 2019. On the regional level, residents were particularly critical of tourism and its impact on the Wai‘anae, Windward and North Shore communities.
1 Satisfaction: The percent of visitors who rated a 7 or 8 on a scale where 1=Poor and 8=Excellent.
2 DestinationNEXT Multi-User Diagnostic Assessment: Hawai‘i Statewide, Destinations International and MMGY NextFactor, December 30, 2019.
3 HTA Resident Sentiment Survey 2019 Highlights, February 2020. Field dates: September 27 to November 14, 2019.
4 HTA Visitor COVID-19 Study, June 2021. Among visitors to Hawai‘i from the U.S. Mainland who visited Hawai‘i from May 15-24, 2021.
5 HTA Resident Sentiment Survey 2021 Highlights, June 2021. Fielding dates: April 27 through June 2, 2021.
Residents were also asked to rate the importance of specifc strategies for the state to better manage tourism.5
• 88% of O‘ahu residents said that it was important for the state to educate visitors and residents to mālama the islands and each other
• 74% - eliminate illegal vacation rentals on my island
• 71% - charge visitors access fees to state parks and trails
• 66% - encourage visitors to volunteer and give back during visits to Hawai‘i
• 64% - not allow building of additional hotel/condo/timeshare units on my island
• 62% - stop approval of additional legal vacation rentals on my island
• 57% - designate resident-only days at some state parks, beaches and trails
O‘ahu residents also said that the top problems created by tourism in Hawai‘i were overcrowding, trafc, damage to the environment, and too great a dependency on tourism.
5 HTA Resident Sentiment Survey 2021 Highlights, June 2021. Fielding dates: April 27 through June 2, 2021.
SITUATION ANALYSIS SUMMARY
As a part of the DMAP process, a SWOT analysis was conducted by the Steering Committee members who identifed the destination’s existing strengths and problems, as well as opportunities and threats present in the external environment. The SWOT analysis is a useful tool in the decision-making process, as it can be used to evaluate strategic positioning, as well as identify projects that would be reasonable to execute in the short term. This feedback was supplemented with research and data that helped to support the observations that were made. The information below provides more details on each section of the SWOT analysis matrix shown on Table 1, page 16.
Strengths
Safety. O‘ahu, along with the State of Hawai‘i is generally perceived as a “safe” destination.
The State and the City and County of Honolulu have prioritized safety and health during the pandemic. As O‘ahu moves forward, these systematic prioritizations and strategies on testing, vaccination, quarantine of travelers, Safe Travels, and other safety measures have resulted in some of the lowest numbers of COVID infection cases and deaths in the U.S. This further speaks to and confrms the validity and perception of O‘ahu (and Hawai‘i) as generally being a safe destination that prioritizes health and safety for residents, community and visitors.
Hawai‘i’s violent crime rate in 2021 (2.9 incidents per 1,000) is lower than the national rate of 3.7.
Depth of Product. O‘ahu’s “Town & Country Experiences, All On One Island” positioning continues to set O‘ahu apart from the other Hawaiian Islands and is generally unique for Pacifc Island destinations. Alongside O‘ahu’s oferings of Hawaiian cultural and historical experiences, O‘ahu boasts a robust multicultural community with a wide range of experiences.
O‘ahu has the highest number of visitor accommodation units, venue space, ground transportation, air transportation (fights) and experiential infrastructure than any other Hawaiian Island, lending itself to better accommodating the needs of both the leisure and meetings markets.
Honolulu Harbor is the embarkation or disembarkation point for most cruise ships resulting in additional pre- or post- cruise stays on island.
Natural Beauty. Natural beauty and outdoor experiences have not been compromised during the pandemic and continue to exist around O‘ahu.
Due to the pandemic, residents experienced lockdowns and were encouraged to minimize activities away from home. Visitors were also absent from the island. This has given many natural sites a brief moment to rejuvenate due to the separation from human overuse. Hanauma Bay is a good example of this.
After the “stay/work at home” lockdown throughout the State, country and globally, O‘ahu’s beauty and outdoor experiences are highly attractive to those with pent-up travel desires.
Many of O‘ahu’s natural sites and outdoor recreational areas are accessible to residents and visitors because of the City’s well-developed roads and transportation infrastructure.
Tourism Jobs and Workforce. Availability of a professional workforce and time-tested training infrastructure.
The pandemic has brought about some of the highest layofs and furloughs. However, O‘ahu has the largest pool of tourism workers compared to the other islands, giving it an advantage to having the right number of skilled workers necessary for the recovery period.
O‘ahu has multiple universities and colleges that can develop and provide education and workforce training programs.
Appeal. O‘ahu has traditionally had a strong international appeal. O‘ahu attracted an even mix of 50% domestic and 50% international visitors, prior to the pandemic.
Historically, market mix was an O‘ahu strength. Currently, it can be construed also as a weakness due to the impact of closed international borders and travel. However, O‘ahu hopes to see this dynamic return as the world returns to normalcy in the future.
Meetings and Conventions. O‘ahu draws more meetings than any other island and ofers a multitude of convention and incentive opportunities, including the Hawai‘i Convention Center. The meetings traveler spends signifcantly more than the leisure visitor. Convention and business meetings also generate ancillary spending in the destination through the rental of event space, equipment leasing, and corporate hospitality functions.
Problems
Hotspots. Recreational sites, attractions and communities are overtaxed by crowds or inadequate infrastructure creating many “hotspots” where residents and visitors compete for access to the same resources and locations.
The Steering Committee felt that 6.15 million visitors in 2019 was too much for the current infrastructure, natural resources and residents’ quality of life. The group cited intrusion into residential neighborhoods, inadequate maintenance and enforcement, inconsistencies in park policies and reservation systems, and lack of/or poor infrastructure in parks, beaches, and bathrooms.
Illegal Vacation Rentals. The County policy on transient vacation rentals is the most restrictive of all the counties; and this policy is still not fully resolved, etc.
Cost of Travel. Due to current pandemic policies in place, the cost to travel to O‘ahu includes testing costs, higher accommodation rates, additional fees and more, increasing the travel cost. The limited availability of attractions and rental cars has also driven up prices. Unfortunately, the cost to visit Hawai‘i does not always match up to the expected level of service and experiences. These costs are expected to be temporary but for how long, is unknown.
Product Decline. Many of O‘ahu’s experiences, including but not limited to accommodations, attractions, activities, tours, restaurants, and festivals and events, that provide the destination’s depth of products may not survive the economic impact of the pandemic. Therefore, O‘ahu will have less to ofer.
Most visitor industry businesses are facing challenges of reopening to full capacity, impacting the O‘ahu travel experience, which could impact a prospective visitor’s travel decision.
Native Hawaiian-owned frms in the tourism sector are smaller in terms of employment size, lower annual average wage, and lower annual sales per frm as compared with state averages and are
therefore more at risk for failure. Their loss could lead to fewer authentic experiences in culture, art, entertainment, and recreation.
Marketing and Destination Management Budget Cuts. HTA and its Global Marketing Team (GMT), including the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB), as well as the O‘ahu Visitors Bureau, have seen and will continue to experience reduced funding for crucial management eforts of the destination related to community, environment, and culture. This includes budget cuts for marketing eforts necessary to kickstart the tourism economy, efectively target the appropriate type of visitor, and compete with other
destinations that are aggressively focused on capturing the same market share.
In 2021, and for the next several years, State tax collections and revenue might be signifcantly reduced due to a slower economy. This will most likely result in cuts to tourism funding and, subsequently, a lack of ability to provide desired contracted services to manage and market tourism.
The Legislature repealed the Tourism Special Fund and Transient Accommodation Tax allocation to the counties through the passing of HB862. This created an uncertainty in the source of tourism funding.
O‘ahu continues to be the only island that does not receive county resources (budget and otherwise) to help with O‘ahu’s tourism eforts and marketing.
Unemployment and Workforce. Currently, the State’s dependency on tourism has contributed to one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, resulting in a severe downturn in the local economy. The rate of recovery for O‘ahu’s tourism industry may vary and is unknown. Due to the pandemic, much of O‘ahu’s travel related workforce was furloughed or eliminated. This poses two problems. After a long period of not working, bringing back this workforce will require much training, time and resources to bring the level of service back to where it was or should be.
In the meantime, the brand’s delivery of quality service may be tarnished. Secondly, the exodus of residents may have continued during the pandemic as talent was drawn out-of-state to look for jobs elsewhere.
Native Hawaiians accounted for 16 percent of the total workers in the tourism sector. However, their average wage and salary income was lower than the state level in each of the tourism-intensive industries, especially in the real estate and rental and leasing industry where Native Hawaiians on average earned only three fourths as much as the industry level. Understanding why Native Hawaiians are underrepresented in our largest industry and how to increase employment is critical to addressing diversity, equity and inclusion in the visitor industry.
Resident Sentiment. Many residents do not fully comprehend the economic impact of Hawai‘i’s tourism industry and the number of businesses and jobs that are integrated into this industry.
Growing negative resident sentiment amongst those unafected by the tourism downturn may still perceive visitors as reckless “carriers of COVID” and endangering their community. They may view the loss of visitors as a beneft to O‘ahu, rather than a problem.
Many hotspots on O‘ahu result from the island’s large resident population and visitors vying for access to the same resources and locations.
Recovery of International Travel. O‘ahu typically attracts 50% domestic and 50% international visitors. However, due to closed international travel and borders (many closed through parts of the year), the difculty of traveling for international visitors into the U.S. has reduced O‘ahu’s visitor numbers and diverse mix drastically.
With reductions in fights and travel from international markets, the domestic market is insufcient to support current capacities required for a healthy recovery. It also puts competitive pressure amongst O‘ahu and the other islands.
Opportunities
Travel Desire, Travel Patterns. Not all sectors of the U.S. and global economy have sufered during the pandemic, allowing for a portion of the population to still have discretionary income. Though income behavior and attitudes towards discretionary income may have changed, people who can aford travel want to escape the pandemic stress. A spike in travel from those who feel healthy and fnancially stable is anticipated.
• Hawai‘i ranks as a top desired destination. For most Americans, beach destinations are priorities as their frst post-pandemic trip. While California and Florida would also be sun and sand domestic competitors, those states were also hubs for large COVID-19 outbreaks.
Vaccinations. Individuals’ confidence to travel increases tremendously with the knowledge that vaccinations, protocols and testing is making it safe to travel.
Safety and Health. Hawai‘i’s diligence in managing COVID-19 has provided a very positive and respected perception of Hawai‘i as a destination that cares about its residents, community, and visitors. This has positive implications for O‘ahu and the other counties.
Competitive Destinations’ Recovery Moving Slower. Some competitive destinations that appeal to Hawai‘i’s Avid Traveler (i.e., Thailand, Costa Rica, Australia, etc.) lag Hawai‘i in its recovery and marketing eforts, due to slower vaccination availability and dissemination, closed borders and travel restrictions.
International Travelers. O‘ahu has the infrastructure and language capabilities to support an increased number of international visitors who have higher expenditures and show a higher propensity to follow respectful travel guidelines and engage in Mālama Hawai‘i practices.
Many top competitors for international visitors were the hardest hit. Top competing destinations (i.e., California, Florida, Europe, etc.) were considered the hotbeds of the virus and there may be residual fear and avoidance of these destinations especially with travelers from Asia.
The State has already created cooperative solutions to welcome major international markets (Japan, Korea, Canada, and Philippines) that still fnd it difcult to enter other countries.
Rebrand the Hawai‘i Experience. The recovery period can be used to guide and manage tourism messaging and products to better align with regenerative tourism goals.
Beneft from the movement to buy and consume local, seek authentic experiences, minimize carbon footprints, and support communities.
Compensate local community members who share their mana‘o of their place. This creates a transformative and healing experience.
Rethink marketing to educate and share with visitors, pre-arrival, so they can be better stewards while they are on O‘ahu.
Ofer viable options to control visitor movement.
Involve residents in the experiences ofered to visitors.
Industry Partnerships. Industry members can capitalize on the relationships with hotels and airlines developed during the pandemic to create campaigns about safety protocols that may instill trust and confdence in potential travelers.
Build broader industry support of sustainable environmental practices .
Managing Visitors. The increased cost of visiting Hawai‘i does not have to solely be viewed as a problem or threat. It can be an opportunity to attract the right visitors, albeit less of them.
Diversifying the Economy. To discover new and innovative ways to diversify the economy beyond tourism, consider other industries that can support the visitor infrastructure such as the flm industry which typically brings in higher wage-earning short-term workers that could compensate for leisure visitors. There is also the potential to recruit long-term stay visitors who can work remotely.
Threats
Airline and Cruise Industry Uncertainty. The primary way to visit O‘ahu and the Hawaiian Islands is by air travel. Concern arises with the possibility of airlines diverting aircrafts once international destinations reopen, and not knowing the recovery strategies of the airlines. Flight/aircraft reconfguration for social distancing and required cleaning protocols would further increase the cost of air travel. In addition, cruise ship scheduling is dependent on the availability and placement of ships in other destinations.
Consumer Confdence in Flying and Traveling. The perceived safety of traveling on commercial airlines and cruise ships is low. Additionally, many Americans may prefer to travel closer to home or within driving distance in 2021.
Economic Recovery. Economic recovery in both the U.S. and most of O‘ahu’s key international markets may be slow and uncertain. In turn, prospective visitors may choose to travel closer to home to save their discretionary income. Consumer confdence has taken a major hit in terms of personal fnances and health and safety. Travel patterns and behaviors may change depending on the economic recovery and perceived need to use discretionary income diferently.
Regional Travel. An extension of the local-slow movement, growing sentiment of American travelers to opt out of long-haul trips may result in deciding to explore more local and regional travel.
Policies of Other Destinations. Other destinations may relax their travel and/or quarantine mandates sooner than Hawai‘i, opening themselves up as a more attractive travel option. O‘ahu may lose the initial surge of travel due to lingering County and State protective measures and may face future challenges to remaining competitive.
International Travel. Many of O‘ahu’s international visitors are from countries with closed borders or
travel restrictions. Additionally, the perceived lack of safety when traveling outside one’s country may be the sentiment globally. This would continue to impact O‘ahu, as half of O‘ahu visitors are international travelers.
Safety Concerns. Due to the general fear of the virus and the new variants within the U.S. and from other countries, prospective visitors may still be cautious or possess residual fear for travel in 2021, and possibly into 2022 or even 2023.
The uncertainty of policies in other states and countries that afect outbound travel may continue to limit or discourage travel to Hawai‘i for some time.
Competition. As O‘ahu moves forward in a post-pandemic environment, the island will face aggressive competition by all destinations who are open for business; even those not typically in its competitive set. Other destinations have already been assertive in their tourism recovery eforts. In addition, the costs to market to O‘ahu’s pre-pandemic customers may have increased. Potential policies pushing for additional fee collection will increase the cost of the visit and decrease the competitive advantage.
Situational Analysis Summary
Strengths Problems
• Perceived as a safe and welcoming destination
• Multicultural community
• Vibrant local communities
• Natural beauty and outdoor experiences
• Unique Hawaiian culture and rich history
• Strong international appeal
• Time-tested professional hospitality infrastructure
• Greater depth and choice of activities, historical sites, and attractions than other destinations
• Convention and meeting facilities
Opportunities
• Rebrand the Hawai‘i experience
• Beach destinations rank high as the preferred vacation post-pandemic
• Capitalize on the possible near-term surge in visitors from those who feel healthy and fnancially stable or cannot or will not travel to other destinations
• Diversify the economy with industries that are complementary with the visitor industry.
• Industry partnerships for safety and environmental initiatives
• Increased cost for visiting Hawai‘i and lower loads don’t have to be only a problem or threat. These can be an opportunity to have less visitors, but the right visitors.
• Managing visitors
• Many hotspots resulting from residents and visitors vying for access to the same resources and locations that are overtaxed by crowds or inadequate infrastructure
• The number of visitors in 2019 was perceived to be too much for the current infrastructure, natural resources and residents’ quality of life
• Visitors’ intrusion into residential neighborhoods
• Global pandemic has created wary residents who distrust outsiders (bringing in COVID, buying high-priced homes to live in)
• Reduced funding for crucial destination management and marketing eforts
• Many attractions, experiences and small businesses may not survive the pandemic
• Workforce not aligned with current needs
• Cost of travel
• Recovery of international travel
• Illegal vacation rentals add additional supply which allows high number of visitors
• Problematic visitors feel entitled to unlimited access, seek secret places, and desire to boast on social media
Threats
• Economic opportunities tend to be valued more than natural and cultural resources
• Long-term trend towards more regional travel driven by generational segments that are less adventurous, push for localism, decreasing the travel carbon footprint, etc.
• Aggressive competition by all destinations