Things That Can Hurt Isle Tourism

It should be obvious that bad publicity – criminal activity, tsunamis, interracial tension – all can hurt our tourism business.

The threats of tsunamis and criminal activity at tourism spots probably top Hawaii Tourism Authority’s concerns.

It seems obvious that the Christopher Deedy trial lasted way too long. The story made the headlines on every local media outlet because it was, by its nature, a very sensational case. Many murder trials are. If nothing else, it makes it seem like anything can happen in Waikiki, even murder – like real-life Hawaii Five-0.

The good news is the national media have pretty much ignored the Deedy trial.

Of course, there is no way to predict what kind of “severe” weather is going to pop up on civil defense radar screens. But we do know it’s out there.

One thing is for sure: If you look around the world, all it takes to hurt a popular tourist site is a couple bad stories, and the tourists change directions overnight.

As an example, I’ve always wanted to cruise down the Nile River and walk around the pyramids, but that one will have to be taken off my bucket list. It’s just too dangerous now, and probably will be for the forseeable future.

Then there is China’s filthy air that’s dampening tourism. Air pollution chasing away tourists? Strange, but China’s pollution is different from our vog. Besides, volcanic eruptions are good for Hawaii’s tourism business.

Hawaii must live with the fact that we are one national story away from irrepairable damage to our spectacular tourism industry.

Now, about all these shark bites …