Bill Text: HI HCR151 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Requesting The Hawaii Tourism Authority To Create Metrics In Order To Regularly Track The Full Impacts Of Tourism On The State's Infrastructure, Economy, And Environment, And To Prioritize Staff Positions For Economists And Social Scientists.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-13 - Referred to TOU/EDB, FIN, referral sheet 39 [HCR151 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-HCR151-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

151

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting the hawaii tourism authority to create metrics in order to regularly track the full impacts of tourisM on the state's infrastructure, economy, and environment, and TO prioritize staff positions for economists and social scientists.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, tourism is the activity most responsible for Hawaii's current economic growth and standard of living, and it is likely that the State's economy will continue to depend on the economic activity generated by the visitor industry for years to come; and

 

     WHEREAS, the visitor industry has major impacts on almost every aspect of the State, including the State's physical infrastructure, economy, environment, social and cultural life, and cost of living; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to a 2017 study by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, 8,900,000 people visited the State in 2016, spending $15,600,000,000, a record for visitation and spending after five straight years of record visitation and spending growth; and

 

     WHEREAS, visitors venturing out from resort areas and into residential communities can create a level of annoyance and intrusion for residents; and

 

     WHEREAS, visitor spill-over activity into recreational and natural areas, including coastal, marine, inland hiking and scenic areas, is raising the cost of repairs and maintenance of visitor-stressed state parks and other environmentally sensitive places; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to a 2017 resident sentiment study by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Hawaii residents perceive the visitor industry as one that increases traffic problems, creates a higher cost of living, and does not work to sustain the State's natural resources, parks, or cultural sites; and

 

     WHEREAS, the infrastructure and natural areas of Windward Oahu, increasingly known for its beaches and popular hikes, is stressed by increased tourist inundation, particularly illegal short-term rental accommodations in residential communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, a better balance is needed between the requirements of the growing visitor industry in the State and the quality of life for residents of the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, State policies and practices related to the visitor industry should fully understand the true costs and benefits relating to the visitor industry, including factors such as the amount of money that visitors bring and that remains in the State and the negative impacts of the visitor industry on the State's infrastructure, economy, and environment; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Tourism Authority tracks visitor data and undertakes research relating to the visitor industry, including research on sustainable tourism and the impacts of the visitor industry on the State's infrastructure, economy, environment, and social and cultural life; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the Senate concurring, that the Hawaii Tourism Authority is requested to develop and implement metrics to regularly track the full impacts of the visitor industry on the State's infrastructure, economy, and environment; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Tourism Authority is requested to use the new metrics to track a range of economic and environmental factors, including:

 

     (1)  The amount of money spent by tourists in the State that remains in the State's economy; and

 

     (2)  The extent to which visitors impact the State's infrastructure, economy, and environment in both negative and positive ways; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Tourism Authority is requested to convert staff positions from tourism promotors to economists and social scientists; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Tourism Impacts; Visitor Industry; Metrics; Sustainability; Economic Development

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