12-12-2007, 10:23 AM
quote:
Yes, I too have friends that rely upon the cruise ships for there jobs, however, I know that if they wanted to, they could get jobs elsewhere.
I don't completely rely on cruise ships for my business. However, It IS nice to have people come through the door on otherwise slow days who are just passing through. It's a nice supplement to my income. As far as "finding another job if i wanted to" I'm a business owner. I decided to become a business owner because I'm at a point in my career where I don't want to have a just a job. I suspect most of the people in this area who cater their businesses toward tourism are also either self employed or like what they do.
Cruise ships aside, it really seems like a lot of people hate tourists on this side of the island, but ya know many people who live here now (and treat it like their home) came here as tourists initially. Unless any of us were born and raised here, there isn't much room to judge.
As far as cruise ships go, I don't think it is such a bad thing to have them. I wish there were tighter rules about the environmental impact of large ships in these island, but not just cruise ships or ferries. Let's talk about barges, ocean liners, the military ships that come and go. They ALL have an impact. I just seems like people want to use the cruise ships as a cover to complain about tourism.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, this side of the island could really benefit in a lot of ways from eco-tourism. Not the same thing as luaus, dinner cruises, para sailing and all the touristy thing that the rest of hawaii is known for, but a real effort to teach visitors about the culture, environment and history here (no the half-assed sh*t that goes on now)...
"How do you know i am mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the cat "or you wouldnt have come here."
"You must be," said the cat "or you wouldnt have come here."