HCR 196 Summary

• Urges the Hawaii Tourism Authority to help address negative impacts of increased tourism on local communities, including housing costs, traffic congestion, strained natural resources, and deteriorating infrastructure.

• Requests the HTA to collaborate with stakeholders and affected communities to identify tourism-related issues and develop recommendations to address them.

• Requires the HTA to submit findings, recommendations, and any proposed legislation to the Legislature at least 20 days before the 2022 Regular Session convenes.

• Directs the HTA to focus on increasing visitor spending rather than increasing visitor numbers beyond 10,000,000 annually until plans are developed to mitigate tourism impacts.

• Notes that annual visitor numbers to Hawaii increased from 4,800,000 in 1985 to 10,000,000 in 2019, while average visitor spending has declined.