HCR 144 Summary

• Requests the Hawaii Tourism Authority conduct a study identifying and prioritizing tourism-related issues impacting communities statewide, including sites where impacts are particularly prevalent

• Study must develop processes to address identified issues, determine necessary resources and staffing, facilitate multi-year stakeholder discussions, and assist communities in developing solutions

• Study must identify applicable federal, state, and county agencies with jurisdiction over tourism impact issues and recommend a timetable for implementing proposed solutions

• Hawaii Tourism Authority must submit findings, recommendations, and any proposed legislation to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the 2021 Regular Session convenes

• Legislation is prompted by resident concerns about tourism overload: visitor agreement that "tourism brings more benefits than problems" declined from 80% in 2010 to 59% in 2018, despite over 10 million annual visitors and $17 billion in annual tourism spending