Tourism

...Japanese arrivals decreased 4.9 percent to 110,969 visitors....

...the effect of this bill is to burden the compliant small businesses and owner/operator establishments by creating a system that favors larger rental companies and hotels....

Sales taxes in most states leave rent alone, but our General Excise Tax (GET) taxes it....

...the early years of one of the most successful tourist destinations in the world, Hawaii, from about 1870 to 1940....

...the strengthening US dollar is driving down Hawaiian’s projected unit revenues by 3.5% to 6.5%....

...In coming weeks, Hawaii’s Supreme Court is expected to hand down a decision....

It seems to be the first waiver granted this session by House Speaker Joe Souki....

... 8,282,680 visitors came to the Hawaiian Islands in 2014, exceeding the 2013 record of 8,174,461 visitors by 1.3 percent ....

...for not permitting it to use their site on Maui's north shore for things like weddings....

Total expenditures by visitors who came to the Hawaiian Islands in November 2014 increased 3.4 percent to $1.1 billion, compared to last November....

The balancing of million-dollar mortgages on inverse absolutes--paradise and illegality--produces a hyper-sensitive fear-and-hate-inspired psychology....

...these units would account for up to 25 percent of Hawai‘i’s total lodging inventory. In comparison, hotels units make up approximately 50 percent of visitor accommodations....

...The latest installment in the UHERO dashboard project is packed with information on the cost of travel to Hawaii from the US mainland....

Arrivals by air from U.S. West were up 9.1%, US East up 7.7% ....

...businesses and workers with specialized skills congregate together....

To Galuteria, gambling on Native American land offers "a lot of great models" that "the Hawaiians can follow" ....

...140 individuals are targeted to move into IHS shelters or homes and an additional 120 transient individuals will be returned to their homes outside Hawaii....

Weak tourism and federal downsizing are holding down growth.  Construction has disappointed this year....

...Honolulu’s airport is hardly the welcome to Hawaii that you might expect.....

...the Gabbard measure would go further, forcing thousands of economy-boosting tourists and business travelers to apply for visas — a notoriously arduous process....

The Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) has determined that the individual in isolation at a Honolulu hospital who was reported to the department as a possible Ebola case yesterday does not meet the criteria for testing....

A 1.3 percent decline in total arrivals and a shorter average length of stay led to a 3 percent decrease in visitor days....

...Total expenditures by visitors who came to the Hawaiian Islands in July 2014 rose 2.6 percent from the same month last year to $1.4 billion....

Airline passengers are considered an easy group to tax....

...and no other sector has yet emerged to provide offsetting stimulus....

The first phase starts with 650-699 cows....

The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and Musicians Association of Hawaii are pleased to announce a two-year agreement that will run through June 30, 2016....

This matter is currently under review by the State Attorney General’s office, the HTA, as well as the HTA’s contractor....

Both are interim appointments subject to state Senate approval....

...the Hawaii Supreme Court announced it would consider the four-year legal challenge waged by a hui of environmental groups against the City and County of Honolulu....

For the first four months of 2014, total visitor expenditures fell 2.9 percent to $4.9 billion and total arrivals dropped 2.6 percent to 2,720,760 visitors....

Last year’s tourism weakness continued in the first quarter of this year, and incremental gains for 2014 will be slight....

Moloka'i Ranch is launching initiatives to achieve sustainability, starting with the re-establishment of ranching operations....

Total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawaii in March 2014 fell 3.5 percent compared to last March to $1.2 billion....

Not surprisingly, they almost always report that funds spent on advertising translate into tourist spending and tax revenues many multiples of the original outlay....

The Pro Bowl following the 2014 season will be played on Sunday, January 25, 2015, and televised live on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET from University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona, the site of Super Bowl XLIX a week later....

In Honolulu, unofficial tent cities are now set up in strategic locations designed to pressure the tourism industry, the Chinatown community, the Korean community, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Honolulu Council debate over Housing First....

Hawaii is the third largest retailer of ivory and ivory products in the nation....

The decision to cease operations in Hawaii follows significant growth in the Company’s flight operations on the mainland and was a strategic decision....

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 5.1 million visitors to national parks in Hawai`i spent more than $314 million and supported 3,723 jobs in the state in 2012....

Total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawai‘i in January 2014 dropped 4.7 percent (or $68 million)....

...DBEDT economists slightly reduced the projected growth rate due to continued modest tourism growth but identified potential in construction....

New states considering online travel agency taxes should consider the harmful effect on tourism and the potential for legal battles they're likely to lose....

Over 42 million tourists visited the United States in 2012 after completing the required visa process. The process, however, is unnecessarily difficult....

In Kihei, located on Maui's southwest shore, travelers will have to spend $416 per night ....

On average, 204,120 visitors were in the state on any given day of 2013 (average daily census) a 1.4 percent gain compared to 2012....

We're losing the bed bug race: Last year we were 33rd....