Recent storms and rising prices have pushed tourism to the front of mind for Hawaiʻi residents concerned about the state's economy and visitor industry.
And while the data on Hawaiʻi's visitors comes in, questions have been raised about how reliable that data can be.
After the state digitized its mandatory agricultural declaration forms and voluntary tourism surveys for inbound visitors, participation in the latter has fluctuated in a way that makes it difficult to discern the true picture of Hawaiʻi's visitor industry.
Sen. Glenn Wakai is the vice chair of the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee. He spoke with HPR to share the latest figures from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority.
"Ever since we digitized that paper survey, the good news is that adoption has increased," Wakai said.
Adoption of the tourism survey, however, dropped from 45% to 23%, he continued.
"We need to address that and make sure that we have the best tourism numbers of any place on the planet."
Wakai attributed the drop to the form's digitization, which he argued made survey takers more prone to distraction when checking in pre-flight, as opposed to paper forms taken mid-flight.
The solution? Tailoring the survey to make it more relevant and engaging for visitors.
"We can have more focused questions, right? When we printed 6 million pieces of paper, we can't change the question," Wakai explained.
"So when Kīlauea is erupting right now, we could ask the question of: Are you coming because you want to see the volcano eruption? Are you coming because of a movie premiere?"
Additionally, Wakai proposed offering incentives for survey completion — "a coupon, a discount, or something from a local Hawaiʻi vendor" — in order to encourage more responses.
Discussion of tourism numbers also comes as resident sentiment towards tourists has dropped to a record low.
With proper government guidance, however, Wakai believes that tourism can be regulated and managed to support both Hawaiʻi's economy and its residents.
"If government could get a handle on really making sure that these Airbnbs and destination vacation rentals are not in neighborhoods that they shouldn't be in, I think you'll see the visitor sentiment dramatically rise in favor of tourism in the future," he said.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 28, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
