Bill Text: HI HCR221 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Urging The Conservation And Tourism Communities To Collaboratively Implement A Statewide Responsible Tourism Initiative To Help Achieve The Aloha+ Challenge Sustainability Targets, Improve Visitor Experience, And Protect Our Natural And Cultural Heritage For Future Generations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-14 - Referred to TIA, FIN, referral sheet 33 [HCR221 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2019-HCR221-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

221

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the conservation and tourism communities to collaboratively implement a statewide responsible tourism initiative to help achieve the Aloha+ Challenge sustainability targets, improve visitor experience, and protect our natural and cultural heritage for future generations.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has committed to the Aloha+ Challenge, a statewide pledge to achieve six interconnected sustainability goals by 2030; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Aloha+ Challenge is recognized as a localized framework for the global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals; and

 

     WHEREAS, concurrently, the State's visitor industry has invested in a range of initiatives to promote sustainable tourism, improve the visitor experience, and promote responsible tourism; and

 

     WHEREAS, visitors travel to the Hawaiian islands to experience the beauty of its natural resources, ecosystems, and cultural values, contributing nearly $17 billion to the state economy each year in doing so; and

 

     WHEREAS, the number of visitors to Hawaii continues to increase, nearing ten million visitors annually; and

 

     WHEREAS, although each visitor to the State spends an average of $201 per day, Hawaii spends only $9 per visitor to protect the natural resources that visitors enjoy and community members rely on; and

 

     WHEREAS, comparable tourism destinations spend considerably more per visitor, such as $92 in Palau, $370 in the Galapagos, $188 in the Great Barrier Reef, and $137 in New Zealand, placing Hawaii at a competitive disadvantage; and

 

     WHEREAS, although the health and sustainability of our communities and economy are closely intertwined with the health and management of our paeāina, the State only invests one percent of its budget into its natural resources, leaving an estimated $360 million conservation budget deficit; and

 

     WHEREAS, this conservation budget deficit creates a strain on our coral reefs, forests, watersheds, and biocultural infrastructure; and

 

     WHEREAS, surveys show that Hawaii residents are concerned about the negative impacts of tourism on the State; and

 

WHEREAS, residents rank this concern as having the highest relative importance when considering the future of tourism in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, the effective management of our environment and natural resources will benefit both the visitor experience and the quality of life for our residents and communities; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2019, the Senate concurring, that the tourism and conservation communities are urged to implement a statewide responsible tourism initiative to help achieve the Aloha+ Challenge sustainability targets, improve visitor experience, and protect the State's natural and cultural heritage for future generations; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, President of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Executive Director of the Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, Executive Director of the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, and President of Chamber of Commerce Hawaii.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Tourism; Conservation; Aloha+ Challenge; Responsible Tourism Initiative

feedback