Business is back in Waikīkī this summer. While visitor numbers are not at pre-COVID levels, developers and residents alike sound optimistic about the future.
Over the past two weeks, Pacific Business News has taken a close look at Waikīkī’s post-pandemic recovery. This week’s focus included crime — as well as business.
The topic is top of mind for the Waikīkī Business Improvement District Association. That group shared Honolulu Police Department data showing that recent efforts to curb crime, a program called Safe and Sound, have been paying off.
In the first quarter of 2023, compared to the first quarter of 2022, assaults declined by 15%, burglaries fell by a quarter, and car break-ins were down by nearly a third.
Numbers for other kinds of crime dropped even further: drug and alcohol violations were down 82%, while robberies dropped by nearly two-thirds.
The Safe and Sound program was launched in September, a joint initiative involving no fewer than seven groups.
From the government, there’s the office of the mayor, the prosecuting attorney, and HPD. The Hawaiʻi Lodging and Tourism Association is part of it, along with the Waikīkī Improvement Association, the Waikīkī Business Improvement District Association and the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaiʻi.
Also bullish on Waikīkī is real estate investor B.J. Kobayashi. His Black Sand Capital has spent close to a billion dollars acquiring such properties as the Kaimana Beach Hotel.
He predicts we’ll see one, maybe even two, five-star resort developments get underway in Waikīkī over the next 10 years.
