HB1508

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that sustainability is a key principle of destination management, yet the State invests less than one per cent of its total budget on natural resource conservation. The legislature also finds that a recent study conducted by Conservation International, a Washington, D.C., based environmental nonprofit organization, concluded that the State needs to spend at least $886,000,000 per year to preserve Hawaii's ecosystems and biocultural resources. However, the State's current conservation spending amounts to just $535,000,000 per year, which results in an approximately $350,000,000 spending gap for conservation annually.

Furthermore, the legislature finds that the State has a responsibility to balance the impacts of tourism with the cultural legacy of Native Hawaiian people, which is rooted in the land and environment. As the number of visitors arriving in the State soared past ten million in 2019, state leaders received information about the threats to many cultural sites. According to a report by the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaption commission, five hundred fifty cultural sites could be chronically flooded in the future as a result of climate change, which is worsened by carbon emissions generated by airline travel to and from Hawaii each year. The legislature further finds that it is important to ensure that Hawaii's visitor industry embraces cultural values such as mālama ‘āina (care for the land) and uplifts traditional Hawaiian cultural practices that strengthen the islands' social, environmental, and economic well-being.

The legislature additionally finds that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Hawaii's local economy, which left hundreds of thousands of residents unemployed, underemployed, and facing financial hardship. Moreover, visitor industry workers were disproportionately harmed by Hawaii's economic downturn, with many employees unable to regain their jobs as the pandemic continued into the summer of 2021. Many of these individuals were associated with multinational corporations and hotels, which were sluggish in rehiring unemployed workers. In July 2021, UNITE HERE! Local 5, a labor organization that represents numerous hotel employees, reported that only sixty-two per cent of its members had been rehired despite some hotels reaching occupancy rates of over ninety per cent. The legislature also finds that it is important to make safeguarding the financial security of residents a strategic priority of the visitor industry to create a tourism sector that responds to the needs of Hawaii's people.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to establish a regenerative tourism framework for the State's visitor industry that advances environmental sustainability, ecological sensitivity, Hawaiian cultural preservation, and the economic security of Hawaii's people.

SECTION 2. Section 226-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) To achieve the visitor industry objective, it shall be the policy of this State to:

(1) Support and assist in the promotion of Hawaii's visitor attractions and facilities[.];

(2) Ensure that visitor industry activities are in keeping with the social, economic, and physical needs and aspirations of Hawaii's people[.];

(3) Improve the quality of existing visitor destination areas by utilizing Hawaii's strengths in science and technology[.];

(4) Encourage cooperation and coordination between the government and private sectors in developing and maintaining well-designed, adequately serviced visitor industry and related developments [~~which~~] that are sensitive to neighboring communities and activities[.];

(5) Develop the industry in a manner that will continue to provide new job opportunities and steady employment for Hawaii's people[.];

(6) Provide opportunities for Hawaii's people to obtain job training and education that will allow for upward mobility within the visitor industry[.];

(7) Foster a recognition of the contribution of the visitor industry to Hawaii's economy and the need to perpetuate the aloha spirit[.];

(8) Foster an understanding by visitors of the aloha spirit and of the unique and sensitive character of Hawaii's cultures and values[.];

(9) Form community partnerships to ensure native Hawaiian cultural identity by:

(A) Supporting Hawaii's people and communities and their efforts to malama aina (care for the land) and the cultural and natural resources of the aina, oceans, streams, and skies;

(B) Strengthening the relationship between the place and people for kamaaina (Hawaii residents) and malihini (guests) alike;

(D) Ensuring that kapu (prohibited) and environmentally sensitive contexts are protected from visitor traffic;

(E) Positioning local business owners and entrepreneurs in the economic value chain to ensure more meaningful malihini-kamaaina engagement and economic benefit to local communities; and

(F) Acknowledging and, where appropriate, protecting Hawaiian cultural intellectual property, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions that contribute to Hawaii's economy;

(10) Employ Hawaii residents, commit to building their capacity, and offer career opportunities to ultimately increase the percentage of Hawaii residents in management and leadership positions in the visitor industry;

(11) Apply innovative financial policies, data collection, and analysis mechanisms to incentivize and facilitate a shift to a regenerative visitor industry that has a smaller footprint by, among other things, decreasing the impacts on beaches, reefs, and ocean life; and to sustain and improve the quality of life for Hawaii residents by, among other things, decreasing the impacts of vacation rentals, bed and breakfast operations, and rental cars;

(12) Target markets that have a high probability of alignment with the goal of cultivating a regenerative visitor industry;

(13) Actively support and encourage other emerging economic sectors to reduce the dependence on tourism to support Hawaii's overall economic prosperity;

(14) Minimize negative economic, environmental, and social impacts on the State;

(15) Generate greater economic benefits for Hawaii residents, enhance the well-being of host communities, and improve the working conditions and access to the visitor industry;

(16) Involve Hawaii residents in decisions that affect their lives and life changes;

(17) Make positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage for the maintenance of Hawaii's diversity;

(18) Provide enjoyable experiences and a greater understanding of local, cultural, social, and environmental issues for visitors through meaningful connections with Hawaii residents; and

(19) Provide access for persons with disabilities and disadvantaged persons that is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds pride and confidence in Hawaii."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1508
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII