Hawaii Considers Tourism Fee for State Parks, Trails

Kai Lenny (L) and Aaron Gold (C) are cheered on by Jake Maki (R) in Hawaii's Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore during the The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational surfing contest on Jan. 22, 2023. Jamm Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP

Hawaii lawmakers are weighing up a tourism fee for state parks and trails to fund the protection of its unique natural environment.

Under the legislation, SB304 SD2, relating to “visitor impact fees,” the state could establish a program within the Department of Land and Natural Resources, to collect a fee from visitors aged 15 or over if they visit a state park, forest, hiking trail, or other natural areas.

The bill would require nonresidents to purchase an annual license online or via a mobile app, although the department may also allow some retail outlets and nonprofit organizations to accept payments for the fee and issue a license to tourists too.

Any violators of the fee will have to pay an as-yet-undetermined fine, although penalties wouldn’t be imposed during a five-year “public education” period.

Appropriate visitor fees have not yet been established and lawmakers are looking at developing a “strategic plan and timetable” to implement the fees.

If passed, the program, which would be the first of its kind for any U.S. state, would go into effect on July 1, 2025.

Increasing Conservation Needs

However, Hawaii residents who can prove they are domiciles in the state, or who have paid state income taxes for the previous tax year, would be exempt.

Hawaii has a population of around 1.4 million people but over 10 million visitors a year, according to the state’s tourism authority. The island is also home to around 25,000 unique species and is one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet.

However, invasive pests, including a fungal disease that is killing ohia, a tree unique to Hawaii, are attacking the state’s forests, while the growing number of visitors to the island has taken a toll on its natural landscape, including food systems and water quality, according to officials.

Conservation officials are routinely dealing with tourism-related issues such as the harassment of wildlife like dolphins, turtles, and Hawaiian monk seals, while hikers can often unknowingly bring invasive species into the forest on their boots.

Snorkelers and boats trample on coral, straining reefs that are already struggling with invasive algae and coral bleaching.

A 2019 report by Conservation International, a nonprofit environmental organization, estimated that spending on conservation in Hawaii amounted to $535 million but that $886 million was needed.

‘Make Travelers Accountable’

Last year, Democratic Gov. Josh Green campaigned to have all tourists pay a $50 fee to enter the state, but legislators have argued that such a fee would violate U.S. constitutional protections for free travel. Instead, they have promoted their parks’ and trails’ entrance fees.

“All I want to do, honestly, is to make travelers accountable and have the capacity to help pay for the impact that they have,” Green said earlier this year. “We get between 9 and 10 million visitors a year, [but] we only have 1.4 million people living here. Those 10 million travelers should be helping us sustain our environment.”

The majority of state parks and trails in Hawaii are currently free although some of the most popular ones, such as the Diamond Head State Monument, do charge a fee.

If the bill is passed, Hawaii would become the latest tourism hotspot to impose visitor fees. Venice, Italy, and Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands have already rolled out similar fees.

Since 2018, the Pacific island nation of Palau has charged every international visitor a $100 environmental fee, which is included in the price of every international airline ticket, to help it manage its vast marine sanctuary and promote ecotourism.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.