Mass tourism is the 1,200 pound gorilla in the room

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Dare I say that all of my adult life I have spoken to elected officials and candidates for office about the need to diversify the Hawaiian economy. This statement can be found on the election platforms of almost all candidates, regardless of party affiliation.

But our economy did not diversify after World War II – in fact, with the decline of agriculture, we went the other way. Why is this?

The late UH professor Ira Rohter taught his students to think about the history of Hawaii not in systems of government but in economic systems. It turns out that the two are intertwined, but in fact, it is the economic system that determines the system of government, and not the other way around.

A “functioning” economic system will find ways to influence, if not infiltrate, the government in order to ensure its continued existence. This is colloquially referred to as the rich get richer.

If one economic system falters and another tries to displace it, it will have a similar effect on and in the political system (see overthrow of 1893). For this reason, no diversification has been made. Despite the rhetoric of the election year, the current winners in our economic system run the risk of becoming losers if we diversify.

But maybe, just maybe, Covid-19 suddenly blew up this “Kayfabe” and made the vulnerabilities of society visible to all of us. Perhaps it also gave us the unique opportunity to build a better, more just, more just and more responsible economic system. I am not the first to suggest this, but I wanted to make specific proposals.

Visitors cavort on Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head as the backdrop.
Visitors cavort on Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head as the backdrop in December 2018. Hawaii no longer has to rely on mass tourism. Cory Lum / Civil Beat

First, we need to talk about the 1,200 pound gorilla in the room: mass tourism.

Mass tourism fails most cost-benefit analyzes, but few government officials will ever openly admit it. The reason for this is the resources it consumes compared to the jobs it does, and the benefits it provides for most of us are not discounted. It drives crime, environmental degradation, demand for illegal TVUs, and cultural oppression / appropriation.

It is time we gave up this form of tourism. In its place we can develop niche tourism. This can be sports, health or cultural tourism.

The key is to get fewer visitors who are spending the same amount of money. This would still spell future disasters like pandemics, wars and terrorist attacks, and economic downturns could seriously affect our economy without very little warning. So we need to develop other sectors of our economy that are more resilient to sudden drops in leisure traffic. I suggest three.

Asia-Pacific Nexus

First, we should be world leaders in education and research. Our location as the link between the United States and the Asia-Pacific region makes us suitable for this, and our attractive quality of life should attract world-class scientists and researchers to our coasts. Tele-education will be in high demand in the future; Because of our location and our time zone, we are also uniquely positioned for this – especially compared to someone on the east coast.

We should be world leaders in education and research.

Second, this also applies to health and medicine. With our year-round fantastic weather, we should be leaders in this area. Would you rather rehabilitate a couple of winter months in Honolulu or Chicago? Telemedicine will be in great demand and Hawaii can take advantage of our location. One of my best friends is originally from the East Coast and has been a Honolulu-based teleradiologist for years, serving emergency rooms at hospitals around the world on every shift.

Finally, I believe we need to grow agricultural hemp on a large scale. This would help protect our remaining agricultural land and we could build a local manufacturing industry around it.

It is even possible that we can export hemp or its products at a profit – remember that all cargo ships leave our ports mostly empty. Of course, if we ever legalize marijuana, the potential for agriculture shifts to a different level than hemp.

I published these ideas in the hope that they would spark a public discussion of what our economy should look like in two years and beyond. I hope that once the public has reached consensus, this will put pressure on the candidates, and especially on government officials, to achieve this.

Hawaii has weathered the changing economic system before, and this time it should be pushed from the bottom up. Let’s create a better future for all of us together!

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