Hawai‘i Island, Usa: Community Meetings To Shape Future Of Tourism Through Destination Management Plan

Published on September 28, 2025

Through organization engagement, a renewed effort is underway connected Hawai‘i Island, besides referred to arsenic nan Big Island, to steer nan people of tourism. Two nationalist gatherings will beryllium held successful Kona and Hilo during nan first week of October to let locals to definitive their opinions connected really tourism should create successful nan future. The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) is organizing these sessions arsenic portion of a multi-phase process to update and amended nan island’s Destination Management Plan (DMP). Residents will person nan chance to tie attraction to areas of concern, connection solutions, and definitive their hopes for really land life’s social, cultural, and earthy elements tin coexist pinch tourism.

Context: Destination Management and Why It Matters

Tourism is simply a foundational pillar of Hawai‘i’s economy, but it tin besides enforce pressures connected landscapes, infrastructure, taste sites, and organization life. In nickname of this, nan HTA has shifted accent from purely trading nan islands to managing them responsibly. Under its 2020–2025 Strategic Plan, HTA has precocious island-specific Destination Management Action Plans (DMAPs) that purpose to beforehand responsible visitant behaviour, trim overcrowding astatine high-use sites, protect earthy and taste assets, and align tourism much intimately pinch resident priorities.

On Hawai‘i Island, a first type of nan DMAP (2021–2023) was developed successful collaboration pinch organization groups, nonprofits, manufacture stakeholders, and authorities agencies, incorporating 10 cardinal initiatives and 45 sub-actions targeting stewardship, resident wellbeing, education, and taste preservation. That first scheme is now being reevaluated and expanded successful ray of evolving conditions, pinch nan input of land residents being cardinal to nan process.

These adjacent rounds of organization meetings are nan 2nd shape of outreach for nan Big Island. The August sessions laid groundwork by gathering wide input connected really tourism intersects pinch regular life; nan October meetings are designed to excavation deeper into circumstantial places, issues, and projected solutions. A last information of nationalist sessions is slated for December to guarantee continued dialogue.

In essence, nan process is designed truthful that nan DMP will not beryllium a top-down argumentation but a surviving archive shaped by resident voices and realities.

The Meetings: Where, When, Who

Two cardinal meetings will beryllium held, some from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.:

• October 1 successful Kona, astatine nan West Hawai‘i Civic Center (Community Hale)
• October 2 successful Hilo, astatine nan Aupuni Center Conference Room

Attendance will beryllium constricted to Hawai‘i Island residents, because nan conversations will attraction specifically connected nan island’s sites, challenges, and aspirations. Registration is required, and RSVPs must beryllium submitted successful beforehand via HTA’s registration links.

Each gathering will supply a system format: participants will beryllium invited to talk peculiar section places (hotspots, culturally delicate areas, infrastructure accent points), stock nan issues they look (traffic, crowding, assets strain, biology impact), and propose ideas for mitigation and enhancement. The HTA intends for these resident-driven contributions to pass revisions to nan island’s Destination Management Plan.

It is emphasised that these are in-person events (not virtual) and that nary interest is required to attend.

What Residents Might Address: Themes and Topics

Though nan schedule is elastic to let residents’ concerns to emerge, definite themes are expected to dominate:

• Hotspot guidance and visitant flow
  Residents are apt to place places—beaches, trails, earthy reserves, culturally delicate zones—where visitant beingness is felt arsenic excessive aliases harmful, and propose strategies (e.g. timed entry, visitant caps, signage, amended enforcement) to trim accent connected those areas.
• Cultural and earthy assets protection
  Ensuring that ineffable sites, autochthonal ecosystems, and taste practice are respected by visitant behaviour will beryllium a privilege for many. Programs for place-based visitant education, stronger signage, steward programs, and community-led guidance whitethorn beryllium proposed.
• Infrastructure, access, and congestion
  Issues of roadworthy capacity, parking, discarded management, nationalist facilities, and visitant proscription whitethorn beryllium raised, particularly successful areas wherever nan existent infrastructure is strained.
• Resident value of life
  Concerns astir noise, overcrowding, lodging pressures, short-term rentals, and nan equilibrium betwixt tourism opportunities and mundane life will apt aboveground arsenic cardinal chat points.
• Economic integration and use to section communities
  Residents whitethorn propose that much nonstop economical benefits beryllium directed to section businesses, taste practitioners, farmers, and work providers alternatively than solely ample resorts aliases circuit operators.
• Long-term imagination and resilience
  Considerations astir ambiance change, oversea rise, ecosystem degradation, and regenerative practices whitethorn beryllium brought in, arsenic nan DMAP intends to beryllium a forward-looking tool, not conscionable a short-term plan.

The intent is that nan feedback gleaned successful these meetings will beryllium synthesized into draught updates to nan DMP and past presented again to nan organization for further refinement.

From Plan to Action: Implementation and Legacy

Once nan resident input is collected and consolidated, HTA and its partners (the County of Hawai‘i, organization groups, taste practitioners, manufacture stakeholders) will refine and grow nan Destination Management Plan for Hawai‘i Island. The updated scheme will presumably see revised aliases caller action items, prioritized by feasibility, organization value, taste sensitivity, and biology impact.

In anterior land DMAP processes, HTA has leaned connected steering committees and moving cohorts that harvester community, industry, and governmental practice to guideline implementation. On Hawai‘i Island, earlier DMAP improvement progressive 4 cohorts aligned pinch strategical goals, a steering committee gathering complete respective months, and nationalist feedback via in-person meetings and online forms.

Among existing HTA-sponsored projects connected nan Big Island is nan Keaukaha Steward Pilot Program, which is advancing a community-based programme that places section stewards successful cardinal parks (Waiuli, Lehia) to amended visitors, show behaviour, cod visitation data, and mitigate impacts. That task is aligned pinch nan existing DMAP’s goals of organization finance and assets protection.

The updated DMP is intended not to beryllium static; rather, it will beryllium treated arsenic a “living document” that evolves complete time, pinch periodic reappraisal and people corrections arsenic conditions and organization priorities change. That attack is accordant pinch really different HTA land DMPs person been framed

If successful, nan scheme will thief execute a much balanced equilibrium successful which tourism continues to thrust economical benefits but without overwhelming cultural, environmental, aliases societal systems. The visitant acquisition is expected to amended by focusing little connected measurement and much connected quality, authenticity, and stewardship.

Broader Implications: Toward Regenerative Tourism

Hawai‘i is positioning itself arsenic a leader successful what is sometimes called regenerative tourism—a exemplary that goes beyond sustainability to actively repair, replenish, and heighten ecosystems, taste practices, and organization vitality. The DMPs launched by HTA crossed islands are portion of this larger shift.

While galore destination trading agencies historically emphasised visitant numbers and revenues, Hawai‘i’s caller paradigm places resident well-being and ecological wellness astatine nan centre. In fact, immoderate HTA actions person focused explicitly connected managing visitant messaging to pull much conscientious travellers, limiting capacity astatine subareas, and strengthening partnerships pinch organization stewards.

The Big Island’s upcoming resident sessions correspond a trial case: tin this caller exemplary beryllium grounded successful section values and operable successful divers geographies, from lava fields to forests, from coastal zones to highlands? The occurrence of these sessions whitethorn power really akin processes unfold elsewhere crossed Hawai‘i.

What This Means for Travel Readers

For travellers who attraction astir responsible, mindful tourism, these developments are significant. They awesome that residents are being empowered to style really and wherever tourism is developed. The thought is not to discourage visitors but to refine really they are welcomed—ideally successful ways that sphere nan very reasons group recreation to Hawai‘i: earthy beauty, taste richness, serenity, and connection.

In future, visitors to nan Big Island whitethorn use from improved signage, amended curated paths, less crowds astatine delicate locations, and much meaningful taste engagement—if nan principles shaped successful these organization sessions are reflected successful policy.

For recreation publications and destination storytellers, these HTA processes whitethorn induce shifts successful really destinations are described. Rather than focusing connected “must-see” checklists, nan narratives mightiness thin toward stewardship, reciprocity, section guidance, visitant impact, and connection.

Conclusion

Residents of Hawai‘i Island and nan Hawai‘i Tourism Authority will prosecute successful captious discussions successful Kona and Hilo during nan first week of October. In bid to guarantee that tourism develops successful a measurement that promotes ecological integrity, taste heritage, and organization wellbeing, these discussions are meant to power nan island’s upcoming Destination Management Plan. Residents will participate successful these sessions to thief determine which areas require protection, which visitant behaviours should beryllium promoted aliases discouraged, and really locals should use from tourism. If everything goes according to plan, nan extremity consequence mightiness beryllium a caller equilibrium wherever tourism keeps increasing while coexisting peacefully pinch nan environment, nan section culture, and nan voices of nan group who unrecorded connected Hawai‘i Island.