Summer’s here, and so is the latest round of “we’re doomed” headlines. May numbers were flat. July is looking soft. Fall’s shaping up to be worse. Occupancy is down, rates are discounted, and everyone’s pointing fingers; Maui fires, war, inflation, Trump, HTA… take your pick. Every month, the news seems to re-forecast but in the wrong direction, down.
Allison Schaefers at the Star-Advertiser laid it out clearly in her recent article: bookings are coming in later, spending is off pace, and some properties are reporting summer drops of 8 to 10%. Even July, usually the strongest month of the year, is wobbling. And the fixes? Lower rates, last-minute discounts, and a quiet hope that kamaʻāina traffic fills the gaps.
Beyond politics and economy, some have remarked that you can’t spend five years chanting “fewer tourists,” “better tourists,” and “no tourists at all,” then act surprised when bookings stall and Hawaiʻi slips off the wish list. We’ve been lurching between panic and purity, one week it’s “we’re over-touristed,” the next we’re slashing rates and allocating emergency funding.
We say we want quality visitors, then gut the very budget that helps attract them. We talk about managing tourism, then undercut the agencies meant to do just that.
HLTA’s Mufi Hannemann summed it up in a recent email. We’re losing share of voice, our marketing is fragmented, international arrivals are down, and even strong U.S. markets are softening. His call? A unified, strategic response to reposition Hawaiʻi’s value. Hmm… wonder what organization might’ve been good at that?
