Hawai‘i Doesn’t Need More Tourists, It Needs Better Tourists

From Kaua‘i to Croatia, the World’s Increasingly Crowded Vacation Spots Seek Visitors Who Spend More Money—And Actually Talk to Locals

Rapidly rising tourism in Hawai‘i and around the world poses new and complicated economic, environmental, and cultural challenges that in turn will require better management and well-designed restrictions on visitors, said panelists at a Zócalo/Daniel K. Inouye Institute “Pau Hana” event titled, “How Much Tourism Is Too Much?”

The discussion, before a standing-room-only audience at Artistry Honolulu, explored the problem of “overtourism” in locations from Diamond Head to the Croatian city of Dubrovnik. The panelists argued for a greater emphasis on developing higher-quality tourism, rather than merely marketing to draw greater …

Can Hawai‘i’s Local Communities Lead the Global Fight Against Climate Change?

Cities and Counties Across the Islands, Through Innovations and Experiments, Are the Perfect Laboratory for Slowing Global Warming

Travel-brochure images of Hawai‘i conjure a pollution-free paradise, far removed from dying forests, rising seas, and other ecological mayhems. But it’s more realistic to view the island state as a …

What Does It Mean to Be a ‘Local’ in Hawai‘i?

A Honolulu-Born Writer Reflects on How Demographic and Economic Change Are Making an Idealized Aloha State Identity Obsolete

The story of the modern Hawai‘i diaspora is a paradox: Many of us who grew up in Hawai‘i in the second half of the 20th century developed a powerful sense …

Why Hawai‘i Has America’s Lowest Rates of Gun Violence

It’s a Combination of Relative Prosperity, Isolation, Unique Culture—and Tough Laws

Every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 33,000 Americans die from violence linked to guns. Massacres like the February shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have become …

Hawaii’s Identity Is Powerful–and Endangered

A Strong Sense of Self Distinguishes the State, at Least for Now

America’s youngest state, Hawaii, isn’t known for making Texas-sized boasts about its greatness, or for aggressively pushing its brand on its neighbors, the way that, say, Florida and California do.

Yet …

Can Hawaii Be America’s Bridge to Asia—and the World?

Location, Economy, and Culture Might Make the Aloha State Invaluable in the Pacific Century

As Asia continues its rapid advance in the global economy, the resources of Hawaii—as well as its strategic geography—uniquely position it as a portal into the future of relations between …