Love Thy Tourist?

[Cagary]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEFENDING_TOURISM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-04-25-02-21-57

-Veritas odium parit”(Terence 195–159 BC))-"Truth begets hatred".

[leilanidude]

"Critics say the industry offers poorly paid jobs and exploits Hawaiian culture. "
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Hmmm... As opposed to no jobs at all? BTW, almost all of the resorts are union - and those people are not making anywhere near minimum wage, which is one reason why the hotels cost so much for a night's stay. The other reason is the outrageous hotel taxes this state has.

[Unclemel]

I have to agree that the hotel taxes are outrageous, but I would bet if they paid the workers half what they make now
the rates would not come down one bit.

[dakine]

quote:

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Originally posted by leilanidude

"Critics say the industry offers poorly paid jobs and exploits Hawaiian culture. "
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Hmmm... As opposed to no jobs at all? BTW, almost all of the resorts are union - and those people are not making anywhere near minimum wage, which is one reason why the hotels cost so much for a night's stay. The other reason is the outrageous hotel taxes this state has.

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To say "As opposed to no jobs at all?" is silly. If we didn't focus on one industry we'd focus on another. To be so fatalistic as to say any situation is do or die isn't realistic, is it?

Otherwise, the way I figure it the real reason the hotels costs what they do has very little to do with the cost of labor and a whole lot with what the market will bare. If labor was cheaper the cost of a room wouldn't be. It would just mean more profit for the owners. If the labor was better paid, the profit margin would be that much lower.

As to the amount being paid to the employees.. does anyone know of any non-upper-management employees getting any more than just by on their salaries? And if they were why in the world would one begrudge anyone making a decent living?

As to the transient tax. Would you rather Hawaii residences pay it out in higher taxes ourselves?

And still, methinks, the cost of the rooms will stay as high as the owners can push them.

[Guest]

Most of The resorts throughout the state of hawaii are doing pretty good these days, according to this article.

http://www.hawaiibusiness.com/whats-wort...e-islands/

[Frank]

@dakine,,,Would you rather Hawaii residences pay it out in higher taxes ourselves?

No sir...Fiscal responsibility with the taxes we already pay would be nice..."Up Your Taxes" fixes everything except stopping Pahoa bound traffic at the exit on the Keaau side of Malama market so cars Hilo bound can be on their way...wth? send them right, thru the light and around longs drugs thru the new roundy

folks of puna are tied to the whippin post

[Punatic007]

Airbnb, one of the main advertising sites for vacation rentals here in Puna, is no longer sending the feds a 1099 unless you have over 200 reservations a year. One would need a few rentals and only use Airbnb site to meet that new criteria.

Vacation rental owners send in 13.4% of total charges including cleaning fees either monthly, quarterly or twice a year to the state tax office. Now it's up to the owners to report their earning with no one else keeping track, this should be interesting.

[kalakoa]

state requires all TAT dollars be turned over to the state first, then Oahu decides how that gets divided up

...and I'm sure the State sends that money to the "neighbor" islands right away, and everyone gets their fair share because State would never adjust the sharing to keep more of that money on Oahu.

Not only does TAT need to stay on the island where levied, each County should have the freedom to adjust the rate as it sees fit -- and if this creates even a tiny bit of competition for tourist dollars, GREAT.

[Lee M-S]

You know what would be even better than increasing tourism?
Creating new jobs that don't rely on tourists.

When the state (and county, and district) talk about jobs, it's always tourism jobs.
They never seem to talk about creating some other kind of jobs. Hawaii has become a one-trick pony.

><(((*< ... ><(("< ... ><('< ... >o>

[kalakoa]

Creating new jobs that don't rely on tourists.

We already have that -- it's called "long drawn-out legal battles against any and all development".

Perhaps you meant "jobs that would contribute to the economy".