Americans are flocking to Hawaii. Some locals don’t want tourists.

• Hawaii is seeing a surge in travel as visitors flock to the state’s popular islands.
• Many locals shared the message: “Don’t come here in a pandemic.”
• Some indigenous Hawaiians hope that tourists will permanently remove Hawaii from their bucket lists.

During the summer months of 2020, Kawenaʻulaokalā Kapahua, a native Hawaiian who was born in Kailua, Oahu, hiked to Waikiki Beach to surf.

It was the first time in years that Kapahua saw the popular tourist beach empty.

But when he showed up in Waikiki a few weeks ago, it was too busy to surf. The 23-year-old said it was “insane” how many people were there – most of them disregarding Hawaii’s public safety restrictions.

“It looked like it did before the pandemic,” the 23-year-old doctoral student and community organizer told Insider. “But I could count the number of masks on one hand.”

Kapahua’s experience with tourists on the shores of Waikiki Beach represents the larger wave of tourists coming to Hawaii.

From April 3rd to April 8th, more than 23,000 people arrived in Hawaii every day, according to state travel data. Arrivals peaked on Saturday, April 3, when nearly 29,000 people entered one of Hawaii’s eight major islands and neared pre-pandemic tourism levels.

On Friday, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people could travel domestically. Although Hawaii hasn’t changed its protocol for vaccinated travelers, the state is already seeing an increase in the number of travelers.

Local Hawaiians told insiders they fear incoming travelers will lead to a surge in coronavirus cases and urged travelers not to visit during a pandemic.

Others highlighted deeply ingrained problems in the Hawaiian tourism industry and hope that travelers will remove Hawaii from their wish-list forever.

COVID has hit indigenous Hawaiians and Pacific islanders hard

Kat Wade / Getty Images

Camille Slagle has watched the coronavirus disproportionately affect her family, friends and community.

Slagle, a native Hawaiian of Kailua on Hawaii’s Oahu island, has watched other native Hawaiians fill important jobs across the state. She says many in her community were concerned about spreading the virus in their homes, especially in multi-generational homes.

“I’m scared and frustrated because of the indigenous people,” the 21-year-old told Insider.

Native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders are hardest hit by the coronavirus, according to a study by the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Native Hawaiians and Pacific islanders make up 40% of positive coronavirus cases in the islands, but they make up only 25% of Hawaii’s population.

They are also among the least vaccinated populations. According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, by March 16, 8.8% of Indigenous Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders had received a COVID vaccine, compared with 25.4% of Asians and 19.2% of Hawaii’s white population.

“It’s really terrifying because not everyone is vaccinated yet,” said Slagle of the tourist rush. “People pretend the virus just doesn’t exist anymore.”

But the virus still exists, and it’s getting worse and worse in parts of Hawaii. Daily new case reports have doubled since late February, and Slagle said she feared the CDC’s announcement for vaccinated travelers would make things worse.

“Tourists can go home and have happy memories of their trip, but we have to deal with the deaths, closed shops and the environmental pollution they left behind,” Slagle said.

JJM Photography / Shutterstock

Tourism now plays a huge role in Hawaii’s economy. In 2019, Hawaii welcomed more than 10 million visitors, and tourism became the state’s largest private source of capital for the Hawaiian economy.

Last October, Governor David Ige launched a pre-trip testing program to encourage travelers to visit. The program allowed visitors to skip the mandatory 14-day quarantine if they brought a negative coronavirus test. Around the same time, a temporary residency program known as “Mover and Shakas” was launched, and tourism companies lured visitors with travel incentives and resort bubbles.

However, according to a survey published in November by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the majority of Hawaiian residents did not want to welcome visitors back.

“My family and I are very frustrated,” said Slagle. “I’m happy that some local businesses can benefit from the money tourists spend, but my motto will always be to give people priority over profit.”

Approximately 65% ​​of residents surveyed said they strongly or fairly agree that “People outside of Hawaii should not visit right now,” and 62% disagreed, “I’m confident the state and county governments are mine Island for visitors from outside the state of Hawaii. “

Tip Morlan, a Kama’aina or local resident of Kapolei on Oahu, said no one she knows is happy about the influx of tourists.

Morlan attributed these feelings to tourists who misbehave, whether it be from not wearing masks, breaking mandatory quarantine, or not complying with social distancing.

“My perception of tourism in Hawaii is much more negative after seeing the way people have treated my home simply because it’s a domestic beach destination,” the travel blogger told Insider in an email.

Slagle said that marketing Hawaii as “paradise” and “an escape from everyday life” during a pandemic opened her eyes to Hawaii’s troubled tourism industry – an industry that Slagle and Kapahua said was problematic long before the pandemic been.

Hawaiians against tourism isn’t new

Carlo Allegri / Reuters

Dryden Kūʻehuikapono Chien Tzin Seto-Myers said the tourism industry has sold an image of Hawaii that focuses on coconut shell bras, hula skirts and mai tais.

Seto-Myers, a 21-year-old native Hawaiian from Kailua, Oahu, told Insider.

Locals said their communities rarely benefit from the tourism sector. Native Hawaiians often fill lower paying service jobs, and many Hawaiians have one or more jobs to survive the high cost of living in the state. Meanwhile, the overcrowding has damaged its historic landmarks and destroyed fragile ecosystems.

Kapahua said the ongoing pandemic has raised awareness of the issues of tourism in Hawaii among some.

“People have been against it for a while, but more so now that it’s literally life threatening,” he said.

According to Slagle, many Americans from the lower 48 states feel entitled to visit but rarely take the time to learn about the state’s history.

“It’s disheartening that such a complex culture has been reduced to a grass skirt and coconut bra and the native Hawaiians left behind to try and educate people about Hawaiian history,” Slagle said.

Local Hawaiians had a clear message: don’t visit during the pandemic

Marco Garcia / AP Photo

“It’s hard for me to understand why people put their right to travel over their right to life,” said Seto-Myers.

Seto-Myers, Kapahua and Slagle urged people – vaccinated or not – to stop traveling to the state during the pandemic.

As the New York Times reported, Hawaii’s thoughts on tourism can usually be divided into three categories: “absolutists” who want tourism to end; the status quo group, which believes that “tourism should remain the lifeblood of the economy”; and “the compromisers” or people who think “tourism can and should coexist with other sectors such as agriculture, retail, healthcare and culture”.

The locals that Insider spoke to fell into one of these categories.

Kapahua wants people to stop traveling home to him. He said he didn’t think there was any way in the structure today to visit Hawaii ethically. Seto-Meyers agreed, but admitted that it was an idealistic way of thinking.

While Morlan wishes the state wasn’t so dependent on tourism, she believes tourism isn’t inherently bad. But she said tourists need to show respect, follow rules, and understand communities’ feelings towards tourists before booking a trip.

Slagle stressed that if you decide to visit Hawaii after the pandemic, do your research and learn more about Hawaiian history.

“The vaccine doesn’t fix ignorance,” said Slagle. “Ignorance is one of the greatest threats Hawaiians face in society today.”