House Finance Chair: Fewer Tourists Is ‘What People Want’ … But the tourism industry opposes a bill on Gov. David Ige’s desk that aims to reduce tourism through higher taxes and fees on visitors.
As Gov. David Ige decides which of the Legislature’s bills he’ll sign, veto or let pass without his signature, one measure offers the governor the chance to have a significant impact on the state’s most important industry.
The bill would radically change use of the state’s hotel room tax. It would mean shutting off a guaranteed stream of hotel tax money that now goes to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which is primarily in charge of marketing Hawaii, as well as streams of hotel tax money that go to the counties.
Instead, HTA would have to go to the Legislature for funding each year, like other agencies, and the counties could impose their own hotel taxes to make up for the lost revenue.
