OMKM Conducting Maunakea Public & Commercial Tour Capacity Study

OMKM Conducting Maunakea Public & Commercial Tour Capacity Study
The Office of Mauna Kea Management (OMKM) has engaged the services of Dr. Daniel Spencer, Professor of Tourism Management at the University of Hawaii School of Travel Industry Management to conduct a study on the public and commercial tour capacity for UH’s managed land on Maunakea.

The study is the result of increased visitor use of the Visitor Information Station and Mauna Kea Science Reserve for sunrise and sunset viewing, sightseeing, educational programs, hiking and other purposes leading to concerns about impacts on the natural, cultural and scientific resources on UH managed lands. The study will evaluate current visitor volume, characteristics and demographics, and impacts as well as commercial tour operations.

“The new Daniel K. Inouye Highway (Saddle Road) has made the road safe, easy to drive and now provides easy access to Maunakea and increased visitations, many of which are visitors from outside Hawaii. This study will help determine impacts from visitors and commercial tour operations so we can develop appropriate management strategies,” said OMKM Director Stephanie Nagata.

Among the questions OMKM seeks to answer in this study include:
• How many vehicles annually transport visitors to the Halepohaku and summit areas?
• How many visitors annually visit these areas?
• How many visitors engage in various forms of recreation in these areas?
• What are the characteristics and behavior patterns of visitors to these areas, including their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, expenditures in the local area, and participation or non-participation in group tours?
• What are the physical and sociocultural impacts associated with current visitation levels, including impacts on Native Hawaiians, local residents, observatories, and natural, cultural and scientific resources? Can more visitation be accommodated or should it be curtailed? If too high, what should it be reduced to? If too low, what should it be increased to?
• What is the capacity for commercial tours, including the number of vehicles and time of day of visitation?
• How much admission should visitors be charged?
• Should certain types of visitors, such as local residents or Native Hawaiians be granted free or discounted admission? How have comparable land management agencies , such as the National Park Service, handle such issues?
The study will have institutional support under the auspices of the Center for Tourism Policy Studies, the research arm of the TIM School. The study’s Principal Investigator is Dr. Daniel Spencer, in addition to being a Professor in the TIM School, is a Fellow in the Center for Sustainable Coastal Tourism at the University of Hawaii Manoa. Dr. Spencer specializes in tourism policy, planning and management. He holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. Degrees in outdoor recreation and tourism planning and management from Michigan State University with minors in Geography at the M.S. And Ph.D. Levels.