Hawaii pushes tourism agency to better manage visitor hordes
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii lawmakers ended their 2023 legislative session on Thursday without allocating money for the tourism agency that manages the state’s biggest industry and employer.
But legislators, the governor and the lieutenant governor agreed to make some money available to the Hawaii Tourism Authority as the agency transitions from its traditional work advertising Hawaii to managing tourism so it doesn’t overwhelm local residents.
Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, said in a statement that the state needs to figure out “how we can shift this agency from its focus of marketing tourism to more strategically looking at destination management that would attract and educate responsible visitors.”
