Hawaii Tourism Cool Down Looms - good or bad?

[HiloJulie]

Hawaii's bureaucracy and anti-business laws have made any alternatives to tourism difficult, and now they are making tourism difficult. 

Case in point- these are figures off the internet so may not be 100% accurate and currency conversion plays a role so just consider them ballpark.  I choose Japan as the reference because we get a lot of Japanese tourists.

Minimum wage in Hawaii:  $14/hour.  Increases $2/hour every other year.

Minimum wage in Japan:  $6.09 - $7.66 depending on Prefecture, average $7.17.

Average wage of a hotel housekeeper in Japan:  $8.24/hour.  Average of a Hawaii housekeeper $16-$21.83.  And now it's considered appropriate to add a gratuity. 

Annual average income of a Japanese worker:  $41,509.  Hawaii:  $61,410.

Hawaii hotel taxes (Oahu) 17.9%.  Japan 9%.  Hawaii resort fees per night $30-$50.  Japan- resort fees are not common.

Restaurants- moderately priced: Hawaii $30-50. Japan $15-30.

Maybe our tourism is suffering because we're pricing everybody out?

All 100% true and correct.

But one very important comparison is health care costs.

Japan has, OK, "socialized" health care which pays 70% of your health care costs. Private Insurance is available for purchase, thru employers or on the public exchange which covers the other 30%. At about 1/3 the cost of their American counterparts.

Japanese residents also live 6 years longer than Americans.

Further, Japanese health care has a very liberal mandatory maternity leave program that allows for 6-week pre-natal and 8 weeks post-natal as well as allowing either spouse UP TO ONE FULL YEAR of paid childcare time off for the baby's 1st year of life.

Also, of interesting note - Japan's obesity rate is 4%. America's is 40%.

ETA: Japan ranks between Number 1 and 3 for overall healthcare, while America hovers in the high 60's to low 70's