developing tourism for the east side

[kalakoa]

https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2019/03/...to-hawaii/

Wil Okabe, County of Hawaii managing director, also spoke to how he sees Southwest's plan align with the county administration's own goals and said Southwest's arrival into the market represents "great opportunities for the citizens of Hawaii."

With that opportunity, he said, the county will also need to concentrate on local infrastructure to be able to accommodate more visitors and be able to provide a quality experience for visitors, including a need to develop accommodations on the island's east side.

"I know on the east side, we really have to look into our infrastructure and try and develop some hotels and some areas where they can stay," he said. "Otherwise they'll be coming here to Kona and they'll be driving across the Daniel K. Inouye Highway to get to the Hilo side."

Nobody saw this coming: the east side needs infrastructure and hotel capacity.

Otherwise the poor tourists will have to drive from Kona.

[Chas]

As a former tourist, I can tell you that driving from Kona gets old in a hurry. This is why we chose to stay at rental houses in the Puna area instead.

Oh wait...

[bananahead]

simple...
stop the rain, and tourist will come.... aloha

seriously, who want to pay good $$ for a 1-2 week trip to a Hilo hotel and have 75% of the days rained out??? thats the ONLY reason why Hilo hotels are boarded up, torn down, full of weeds, cats, chickens, hobos, etc. or still have that 1965 look and feel... RAIN! 12-15' worth will scare away any fatass 'Trumpy' from Ohio....

******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[Chas]

Yeah, that’s what I tell everyone. “It rains all the time, don’t come here”!
[}]

[kalakoa]

So ... Wil Okabe is lying when he says we "need to develop ... for visitors".

Either that or the armchair experts have decided what tourists want.

Maybe both.

[randomq]

We just need legal gambling, prostitution, and drugs (which can all be done indoors on rainy days). Finally, jobs for our keiki!

[Guest]

: )³ randomq .. classic

[MarkD]

Yea, this topic was on the radio today: East Hawaii tourism being touted now because of our new fabulously clean air. Talk about wishful thinking.

3 rules of real estate: location, location....

3 rules of tourism in Hawaii: ocean recreation, ocean recreation....

Mauna Kea is great, HNVP is grand, our upland forests are interesting, but tourists want some amount of ocean experience. The destruction of the Kapoho tidepools and Ahalanui were huge losses.

Why some people think that East Hawaii still qualifies as a significant visitor destination is beyond me.

[Guest]

the Onomea drive is mind blowing if u never before.

just sayin'

don't get jaded.. lucky we live.

[PaulW]

Very ironic, considering east side tourism is about to nosedive thanks to the War on VRs.