KAHULUI >> A brilliant rainbow burst from the clouds as Kamalei and Cierra Kawa’a performed at the Haleki’i-Pihana Heiau – the first stop on a tour of historic and cultural sites on Maui during the 22nd annual Native Hawaiian Convention in a showcase what regenerative tourism looks and feels like from a Native Hawaiian perspective.
It was a deeply intimate moment when tour guide Luana Kawa’a introduced her son Kamalei, his wife Cierra and their child to the bus passengers. The family shared their love for their Hawaiian culture and their home – the coastal Paukukalo neighborhood in Wailuku. Their desire is to give back by helping people see their home through the eyes of the people who live there.
Tour guests said ancestors blessed their visit to the 10-acre park and state monument, where views of Iao Stream, Kahului Bay, Wailuku Plain and the Hawaiian homestead of Paukukalo were shrouded in a light glimmer of rain and mist.
But as the bus set off and passed through the Paukukalo district, we became aware of the divisions in the community that modern tourism brings. Luana Kawa’a spotted her father living in Paukukalo’s Hawaiian homestead community – and gave the bus the “stinky eyes” when he spotted him on the ride home.
“I’m going to have to explain something,” Luana Kawa’a said.
The goal of the curated tour was to define regenerative tourism and prove that it can benefit communities, said Tyler Gomes, chief administrator of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s tourism division, which CNHA calls Kilohana.
Tours like the one during the CNHA convention last week provide work for local experts, musicians, hula dancers and other artisans and provide an opportunity to highlight local small businesses, either through stops along the way or through gift bags filled with their products.
A turning point
Regenerative tourism also offers the opportunity to malama or care for places. A stop at Hale Ho’ike’ike at the Bailey House, owned and operated by the Maui Historical Society, was poignant given its growing importance as a keeper of Maui’s history. More than a dozen cultural monuments and historic structures were destroyed in the Lahaina wildfire on August 8, and the surviving artifacts remain at risk.
Mondy Jamshidi-Kent, Director at Naupaka Pacific, said: “Having been part of the leadership of the regenerative movement for the past five years, I was honored to be invited to be part of what felt like history.”
She said the curated bus tour and other regenerative tourism efforts represent a turning point in the resolve and well-being of the people of Hawaii. Jamshidi-Kent praised the progress of Kilohana, CNHA, the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association and the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which has also been led by Hawaii for the past three years.
She said the bus tour had an air of regeneration but was not perfect in terms of sustainability; However, progress should not only be measured in one snapshot at a time.
“The question for me as a practitioner and teacher of regenerative tourism: Did this trip leave Hawaii better than we found it? Does it bring to mind a plus sign in the equation of what would otherwise be extractivism? It remains to be seen,” said Jamshidi-Kent. “The surprise gifts we received indicate this. They were locally sourced and made straight from Maui with wholesome ingredients, reinforcing the ohana theme and supporting mom-and-pop operators who distribute dollars to local families. It was definitely delivered from the heart and with intention. How generous and intimate it is to be invited into someone’s world and ohana.”
Stewardship role
The tour highlighted the importance of CNHA’s role as the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s contractor responsible for stewardship services. The multi-year, $27 million award to Kilohana was HTA’s first stewardship services contract and follows years of efforts to improve residents’ attitudes toward the visitor industry by shifting to a more sustainable and regenerative tourism model.
First, in 2022, HTA adopted a strategic plan that measures success not only by visitor numbers, but also by a combination of daily and general visitor spending, visitor satisfaction and resident sentiment. HTA then worked with communities to create Destination Management Action Plans (DM`s), which provide road maps for tourism management on each island.
“Reducing the total number of visitors to Oahu to a manageable level by controlling the number of visitor accommodations and considering changes to land use, zoning and airport policies” is the top priority in the HTA-approved DM` for Oahu, which receives the majority Arrivals of Hawaii visitors.
The plan also aims to attract more respectful visitors by implementing a pre- and post-arrival communications program and developing marketing campaigns to attract “positive impact travelers who value the environment, culture and investment in our local community.”
CNHA is now working on these destinations on Oahu and similar destinations on other islands, particularly Maui – which has seen a sharp decline in tourism since the devastating firestorm that killed at least 100 people.
Moving the Native Hawaiian Convention to Maui provided CNHA with an opportunity to assume responsibility there, responding to the immediate needs of the community following the disaster and leading discussions that will shape the future of Lahaina. The devastation in Lahaina offers the community an opportunity to reinvent itself, much like Kauai’s North Shore, which was closed to tourists for a year after a devastating flood in 2018 and then reopened in 2019 with new tourism rules.
The future of tourism
The bus tour followed the conference’s tourism session, which began with a keynote address from Hawaii Tourism Authority Chairman Blaine Miyasato. Next, a tourism panel moderated by Gomes examined how community, industry and government leaders envision using local engagement and cultural protection to shape the future of the industry. Panelists included HTA Vice Chair Mahina Paishon; HTA Chief Brand Officer Kalani Ka’ana’ana; Kawika Freitas, director of public and cultural relations for the Old Lahaina Luau; and Joe Ibarra, general manager of Kahala Hotel & Resort.
Paishon said she is acting chair of the HTA “so that our community has additional access to shape, inform and influence a key authority with a specific kuleana: We must bring overtourism under control.”
When asked about the future of Hawaii tourism, Paishon first thought of Maui. She said she expects to see Lahaina in 10 years “as a shining example of how this community has come together.” Our extended ohana have joined arms and supported our Lahaina warriors, educators, healers and community members to advance a regenerative tourism model , which provides tangible support to the Aina, the restoration of Wai, and supports Kanaka-run businesses.”
Paishon then discussed the future of tourism across the state.
“In 10 years, tourism will no longer be the engine of our economy. We will have a more diversified economy,” she said. “But tourism has a responsibility to generate revenue that can help diversify into other sectors.”
Paishon later told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the community felt there were too many visitors and had called for diversification of Hawaii’s economy. She said there was a perception and feeling in the community that tourism was extractive.
“I am in favor of considering a business model that reduces the total number of visitors but maintains or increases the overall economic contribution to the state and also provides more money to support Pono protection over Aina and our cultural vibrancy,” said she. “I believe in the shift towards regenerative tourism – we all agree on that.”
Paishon added: “Many of the DM` plans and strategies require marketing to a more thoughtful traveler, less volume and more quality experiences that command a higher price.”
Paul Brewbaker, director of TZ Economics, said it was important to note that tourism was not responsible for diversifying the economy and that it did not have to become smaller for economic diversification to occur. Additionally, he said economic history shows that Hawaii’s per capita income has been higher during economic periods when the change in real tourism revenue was above zero. For example, the postwar growth of Hawaii tourism from the 1960s to the 1990s resulted in the change in what he called real tourism revenues being greater than zero. Brewbaker said this phase is associated with a per capita income in Hawaii that is higher than the national average, he said.
“Territorial and state officials sought to create a new source of export revenue by taking advantage of an emerging new technology—postwar commercial aviation technology—and the emerging political affirmation of Hawaii’s status, which they fought hard for through leadership on the ground and in the air and at sea in the World War and its aftermath, which accompanied statehood in 1959,” Brewbaker said.
He said a crackdown on resort development from the 1990s to the present has resulted in a period where the change in real tourism revenue is zero. He said this phase was associated with a decline in Hawaii’s per capita income to the national norm.
He said a third phase now appears to be emerging where the change in real tourism revenue is less than zero.
“The political-economic dynamics in Hawaii have arguably shifted toward an absolute decline in tourism in the 2020s: This is not a prediction, and there is no way to predict, but it is my expectation based on what “I see today via official channels,” said Brewbaker.
He said if the change in real tourism receipts is less than zero, there is a risk that it will be accompanied by either further erosion of the negative per capita income gap between Hawaii and the U.S. or a continuation of the deficit without taking into account differences in the cost of living .
Brewbaker said another school of thought is to grow tourism with “more dollars, not more visitors.”
Although many have long advocated for the concept, it has never been implemented systematically, he said.
Miyasato, who grew up in a tourism family and worked his way up from a flight attendant at Hawaiian Airlines to become the airline’s executive director of state and local government affairs, said he sees regenerative tourism as the ideal model and quality of life as the most important measure.
“Many people who come and go to Hawaii have a connection to this place. Lots, lots, lots of them – and that’s why they come back,” he said. “I don’t know if the number (of visitors) is relevant when it comes to the quality of life of the people who live in the neighborhood, who provide services and who drive on the road – if that’s all reasonably balanced, then.” Number becomes irrelevant.”
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