Tourism

... DBEDT revised its economic growth projection for 2021 to 3.5 percent, up from 2.7 percent ....

... The Alaska Tourism Restoration Act provides the Last Frontier temporary relief from the 135-year-old PVSA, which requires foreign-flagged vessels carrying passengers between U.S. ports to stop in a foreign port as part of the itinerary .... 

... ADR was more than double last year’s level ($300, +138.6%), and occupancy was 50.8 percent (+42.0 percentage points), which would have been disappointing performance pre-pandemic ....

... Airports Division announces the operation of Phase III of the thermal temperature screening and facial imaging project at Hawaii’s five major airports that accept trans-Pacific flights ....

... If the 2,186-passenger cruise liner were redeployed or retired today, there would be no comparable ship to replace it under federal law ....

"... require any new PSP agreement with United Airlines or any applicant require the airline to refrain from outsourcing jobs ...."

... it's been deemed easier to work with Canada rather than those within the U.S. government committed to preserving the status quo ....

... The state’s Safe Travels platform went online today, allowing travelers to upload their travel information and vaccination data ....

... In a special Stadium Authority Board Meeting this morning (Thursday, May 6), the Board confirmed and voted for an early demolition of the existing stadium location ....

... States that are Recovering the Quickest from COVID-19 ....

... fulfills a Congressional mandate to biometrically record the entry and exit of non-U.S. citizens ....

... For many years, the counties and the State have been bickering about how much support from the State’s transient accommodations tax (TAT) they should get ....

... This was the first time in a year where visitor arrivals were up, but the year-to-date arrivals were still significantly down (-60.1%) ....

... Kahului, Hawaii, is the most expensive U.S. destination in which to rent a car this spring ....

... Akamai readers will remember this is exactly what happened to the old Hilo Hotel on Kinoole St during the 1990s depression ....

... House Bill 862 authorizes counties to impose a new hotel room tax of up to 3% ....

... Oahu residents now have an additional 19 months to get the REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and state identification cards before they will need it to board domestic flights and enter some federal buildings ....

... Hawaii’s Department of Taxation adopted rules in February 2021 to levy the state’s rental car tax onto peer-to-peer car sharing by interpreting car sharing platforms as being the lessor of the vehicles on the marketplace ....

... In March 2021, Hawai‘i hotels statewide reported similar revenue per available room (RevPAR), average daily rate (ADR), and occupancy compared to March 2020 ....

... the Biden administration agrees to designate more than 100,000 square nautical miles as critical habitat for the endangered humpback whale ....

... Qualifying interisland travelers may begin entering their information into Safe Travels Hawaii https://travel.hawaii.gov/ on May 7 for travel on or after May 11. ...

... HB1019, creating a new OHA revenue stream at the expense of small dive-tour businesses, is quietly heading to conference committee ....

... Since the launch of the Safe Travels program in October 2020, Hawaii’s tourism industry has been making a comeback ....

... A potential cause of the recent virus spread is the decline in the share of people staying at home and a rise in gatherings ....

... Accident Involving Inadequately Trained Pilot Leads to Call for Better Monitoring of Flight Instructors ....

“...Requiring so-called COVID-19 vaccine passports for taking part in everyday life — such as attending a sporting event, patronizing a restaurant, or going to a movie theater— would create two cases of citizens based on vaccination....”

... the proclamation includes mention of an anticipated new exception for vaccinated travelers that will become effective only upon approval by the director of the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency ....

... DPP will hold a public hearing April 6 on draft rules to regulate and register short-term rentals on O‘ahu ....

"... The Aa2 rating on the State of Hawaii's general obligation bonds recognizes the significant fiscal challenges posed by the current health and economic crisis...."

... the request to modify Honolulu’s COVID-19 recovery framework to include “weddings” as a category has been approved and is effective immediately ....

... to allow travelers to confirm compliance with the Safe Travels Program prior to departure and bypass mandatory airport screenings upon arrival ....

... the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for February was 9.2 percent compared to the revised rate of 10.3 percent in January ....

... the average daily census showed that there were 90,776 visitors in Hawaii on any given day in February 2021, compared to 250,052 visitors per day in February 2020 ....

... renovations of the former Uncle Billy’s Hilo Bay Hotel and Country Club Condominium Hotel ....

... Mayor Rick Blangiardi listened to members of the wedding industry during a demonstration outside of Honolulu Hale ....

... South Kona coastline and Kaena Point .... 

... The grant is equal to the business’s pandemic-related revenue loss: 2019 gross receipts minus 2020 gross receipts ....

"...This includes people who work in hotels and hospitality, food service, banking and finance, transportation, construction, media, logistics, information technology and more...."

... Like Hawaii, Alaska relies heavily on tourism .... 

... Alaska's tourism industry is in deep trouble because foreign cruise ships may not carry passengers between U.S. ports without a foreign stop ....

... vaccination records will be supported by the standards being developed under the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI) ....

... with the legislature threatening to force Kauai back into the fold, it's 'game over' for anti-tourism activists--for now .... 

... Falling virus counts and vaccination progress set the stage for a strengthening visitor industry recovery ....

... At this time, more than 24,000 doses of vaccine have been administered on Kaua‘i, and by April we are confident that employees in the hospitality and food service industries will be offered vaccines ....

... Repeals the allocation of transient accommodations tax revenue to the counties ....

... In January, a total of 171,976 visitors traveled to Hawaii by air service, compared to 862,574 ....

... In December, Hawaii had the highest unemployment rate among the states at 9.3%, followed by Nevada at an unemployment rate of 9.2%. Both of these rates are higher than the national unemployment rate of 6.7%....

... monthly demand was 167,500 unit nights ....

... Archaic Protectionism Is Set to Sink Alaska Cruises ....

... statewide RevPAR decreased to $58 ....