by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 8:35 PM ET, Mon April 8, 2019

For many travelers, Hawaii is a dream destination and those dreams have translated into nearly 10 million arrivals annually for the renowned islands.

Those enviable tourism numbers, however, are not necessarily being celebrated in all quarters. At least not at the moment.

Despite the record number of arrivals, a new report from the University of Hawaii says the islands' tourism industry is showing signs of trouble on a variety of fronts.

To begin with, inflation-adjusted spending per visitor has been trending downward for three straight decades.

For example, despite the fact that Hawaii received 2.8 million more visitors in 2017 than it did in 1989, real (inflation-adjusted) receipts were $1.1 billion less in 2017 than in 1989.

Since the turn of the century, and especially since the Great Recession, visitor counts have been rising while total spending has not.

"Hawaii now has more visitors than ever but has not experienced the commensurate growth in economic contribution that would be expected with that growth in arrivals," states the report titled Charting a New Course for Hawaii Tourism.

"In short, unless conditions change, Hawaii will need to attract more and more visitors just to maintain the same economic benefits of tourism."

At the same time, resident sentiment regarding the tourism industry is also eroding.

Making matters worse, increasing congestion and stress on Hawaii's popular sites and attractions have revealed that the current management of such sites is inadequate.

"The dramatic increase in visitors comes with a cost," continues the report. "More visitors require more services from state and county agencies and create more wear and tear on visitor sites and attractions. Congestion and inadequate management threaten the quality of the experience at sites popular with both visitors and residents."

Given all of these challenges, the new report raises concern about the ability of Hawaii's tourism industry to maintain an acceptable quality of life for residents, as well as continue to offer a quality experience for visitors, and maintain economic vitality for the state.

During a recent interview with TravelPulse, report co-author Frank Haas explained that the decline in overall visitor spending in Hawaii is tied in large part to a sharp drop in the spending per visitor per day.

"The destination is maturing. There are a lot of repeat visitors, and they tend to spend less," Haas explained. "We're also seeing a change in the composition of visitors. The destination has gone from being a place where full-service hotels were dominant to less full-service hotels and more Airbnbs, which is having an impact, as that tends to attract visitors who spend less."

First-time visitors to Hawaii, Haas added, tend to want to see all the famed attractions, stay in a hotel and often book ocean front rooms. But for those who have been to Hawaii before, the dynamic shifts somewhat. According to Haas, 80 percent of the island's visitors are people from the west coast who have visited Hawaii an average of six times.

"Those people just want a place to stay and so they stay at a condo," he explained.

As for the sentiment of locals toward tourism, the report says that survey results on the neighbor islands, especially, show diminishing belief that tourism benefits outweigh problems and sense a conflict between tourism and community values.

The third key point of the report focuses on the impact the rising number of visitors are having on Hawaii's natural resources.

"A steady stream of negative news stories indicates that overuse and unregulated or poorly-regulated access to popular sites have degraded both their physical condition and visitor and resident experiences," the report states. "Parks and trails and other public amenities have suffered from over-use to the point where citizen groups, in some cases, have organized to intervene."

None of this bodes well for Hawaii, but Haas and his co-authors, Paul Brewbaker and Jim Mak, are working to raise awareness of the challenges Hawaii's tourism industry faces and have been making the rounds presenting their report to various government officials and entities including Hawaii's governor and several legislators.

Haas says there's a variety of ways to address at least some of the challenges Hawaii's tourism industry faces.

"One thing that can be done is in the world of marketing. We could change from just trying to attract people to come to focusing on the types of people who come here," he explained. "That doesn't just mean rich people or luxury travelers. But there are some types of travelers who do spend more and do not have the same impacts on sensitive sites. For example, corporate travelers spend about 30 percent more and tend to stay in full-service hotels."

Similarly, golfers, and honeymooners, who are often visiting to indulge themselves, also tend to stay in full-service resorts and spend more, said Haas.

Yet another important piece of the effort to plot a sustainable path forward for Hawaii's tourism industry would be to better manage sensitive sites and implement more regulations surrounding the visitation of such sites, Haas said.

Haas suggests there also needs to be a comprehensive state-level, interagency strategic plan for the Hawaii tourism industry.

"There is no overall plan, and that's part of the problem," said Haas.

"Hawaii has been successful because we have a wonderful visitor experience. It's all about the experience. And because of that experience we are able to command premium pricing," Haas adds. "But if we don't manage the experience and address these problems, visitors will say Hawaii isn't worth it. The potential visitor has choices, and we need to make sure we keep our game up."

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