The price of paradise
Hawaii’s lawmakers are considering passing a bill that would require tourists to pay a $50 annual fee to visit the state’s parks and trails.
Hawaii's natural beauty has seen its popularity soar in recent decades, with the island state welcoming more than 10 million visitors for the first time ever in 2019. That’s some 7x the island’s population of 1.4m. The fee — intended to help take care of the island’s natural resources — follows in the footsteps of similar taxes in popular destinations such as Venice, the Galapagos Islands, Palau and elsewhere.
Take a hike
One reason the bill is gaining steam is because of the changing habits of tourists, who collectively parted ways with $13.1bn on their vacations in 2021. The government points to the falling popularity of golf and rise in hiking as an example. Indeed, the number of rounds of golf played (yes, Hawaii’s local government keeps track of this) has fallen 40% since the turn of the century, whilst hiking is now the go to activity on the island, putting increased strain on trails and paths.
The $50 fee, which happens to match the recommended donation to get your name in the ballot for a spot in the famous Hawaii Ironman, would particularly help maintain the lesser-known spots which have suddenly become busy thanks to sharing on social media. It’s not quite as much as the $200 tax that the sought-after Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan charges per day.
