With tourism talk taking over the top of everyone's minds, lawmakers are looking at new ways to bring visitor dollars in. One suggestion? Gambling.
The Hawaiʻi and Las Vegas Chambers of Commerce hosted a joint summit in Waikīkī in mid-October to discuss the challenges and opportunities around tourism and economic development.
Among the delegation from Las Vegas was University of Nevada economist Bo Bernhard, who previously joined The Conversation to speak about some of Hawaiʻi's concerns around gambling, such as addiction.
Bernhard pointed to Singapore's casino resorts as an example of the lessons Hawaiʻi could learn about legal gambling.
"Singapore had a ton of gambling going on, but no social safety net whatsoever," he explained.
"So they insisted early on on prevention programs, on education programs, on treatment programs, on employee training programs to go and intervene upon people who look like they might be having a gambling problem."
Also in attendance was State Sen. Glenn Wakai, vice chair of the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee.
HPR spoke with him about his support for gambling and why he sees it as a way to bolster Hawaiʻi’s night life industry.
"I am a big supporter of gambling," he told HPR. "That would be a fantastic evening activity for tourists to embark in."
Legalized gambling in Hawaiʻi would be a draw for residents as well as for Japanese tourists, who Wakai argued already have an appetite for casino games thanks to their pachinko parlors.
Similarly, he believes that introducing casinos to Hawaiʻi would be coupled with safety nets to address and prevent addictive behaviors.
"If we were able to put in a casino with licensing and taxation, we would put a certain percentage of that money to address the gambling that already exists in this state," Wakai said.
As we continue to track the state of Hawaiʻi's economy, HPR wants to hear from you: Do you support or oppose legalized gambling in Hawaiʻi?
Leave a voicemail with your answer on our talkback line at 808-792-8217 or email us at talkback@hawaiipublicradio.org.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 29, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
