Committee urges creation of Oahu tourism strategic plan, adds Enterprise Services to lead contacts

A Honolulu City Council committee on Thursday voted to advance Resolution 25-548, urging the city administration to create an Oahu tourism strategic plan and amending the measure to add the director of the Department of Enterprise Services to the list of officials asked to participate.

Council member Kia Aina introduced the resolution and said other counties in Hawaii have adopted tourism strategic plans while Oahu — which the resolution says received 5,600,000 visitors in 2023, accounting for 58% of statewide visitor volume — lacks a county-led long-term plan. "Without a comprehensive strategy, Oahu remains reactive rather than proactive in addressing issues such as overcrowding at popular sites, strain on public infrastructure, and concerns from local communities about overtourism," Council member Kia Aina said.

Amy Asobai, executive director of the Office of Economic Revitalization, told the committee the office established a regenerative tourism position and has worked with hospitality stakeholders on an Oahu destination management action plan. "We are committed to regenerative tourism, meaning that the hospitality sector is adding more to the lives of our people and this place than it extracts," Asobai said, and she noted that initial partners on the destination management work included the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Emergency Management.

Council member Kia Aina said she plans to include funding in an upcoming budget to contract for development of the plan, but the transcript did not specify an amount. The committee accepted a verbal amendment to add the director of the Department of Enterprise Services to the last "be it resolved" clause, placed after the executive director of the Office of Economic Revitalization, and reported the amended CD1 out for adoption. There was no public testimony on the item.

The action directs city officials to develop a county-level tourism strategy with measurable objectives and accountability measures; the committee forwarded the amended resolution to the full council for consideration.