James E.T. Moncur

Determinants of Visitor Expenditures and Visitor Lengths of Stay: A Cross-Section Analysis of U.S. Visitors to Hawaii

Available data on United States visitors to Hawaii provides highly comprehensive socio-economic profiles for visitor parties. This data was supplemented by air fares and flying times. A behavioral model was then used to analyze the determinants of actual length of stay and per capita daily expenditure of United States visitors in 1974.

How or How Not to Measure Visitor Expenditures

Methods of measuring visitor expenditures are discussed in this article. One approach uses a diary format, with the visitor recording expenditures as they happen. A second approach has visitors fill out an expenditure survey form just prior to departure, while a third involves surveying visitors after their return home. This article discusses the two methods used by the Hawaii Visitors Bureau (HVB) in 1974. HVBs annual survey uses a questionnaire mailed to a selected number of visitors after their return home. In 1974, HVB also conducted a special survey where visitors kept a running account of expenditures as they occurred. Results from these two surveys are compared and sources of differences identified.

Sustainable Tourism Development: Managing Hawaii's "Unique" Touristic Resource — Hanauma Bay

The impact of tourism growth on the environment is an increasingly important public issue in travel destinations. However, there has been very little research focusing on the evaluation of management strategies for the sustainable development of unique touristic sites. Hawaii has one such unique site in Hanauma Bay Nature Park. In this case study we describe and evaluate the recent Honolulu City and County management plan for Hanauma Bay and suggest several criteria for the evaluation of management strategies for unique touristic resources. We conclude that Hanauma Bay is a partial success story of sustainable recreational resource management. It is argued that efficiency and benefits principles suggest that visitors to Hanauma Bay be required to pay an admission fee to ration the use of this scarce recreational resource and to generate revenues to fund park services.

The future of Hawaii’s major exports

Approximately 80 percent of all the goods purchased in Hawaii are imported from outside the state. Hawaii’s people pay for these, as well as a myriad of service imports, largely by selling (exporting) goods services to persons, governments, and businesses outside the state.1 Thus, exports play a critical role in the Hawaiian economy. In this chapter, we assess the potential growth of Hawaii’s exports to 1985.