Your Hawaii travel is all set to become more expensive! Know how

Hawaii will likely impose a tourist tax to tackle the over-tourism issue, which will in turn increase your travel budget.

If reports are to go by, a proposed tourist tax of $50, or so-called green fee, is aimed to proactively protect Hawaii’s much-visited natural spaces, such as beaches, and to tackle over-tourism.

Referring to this, Hawaii Governor Josh Green stated that they witnessed the impacts of 10 million annual visitors on their islands, which has been discussed in the proposal, along with other issues that will be discussed at the legislature.

He added that the bottom line is to generate as much revenue as possible from travelers, to help mitigate those impacts. Reportedly, he also promoted a ‘climate impact fee’ during his campaign.

Reportedly, the Hawaii Green Fee has recently been passed through Hawaii’s state legislature and is priced at $50 per nonresident over the age of 15, with the goal of generating between $400-500 million annually.

The organizers behind the Green Fee added that they are that they are on a mission to build visitor stewardship, conserve the state’s cultural and natural resources, and it isn’t necessarily to deter people from visiting or build a financial barrier, which was of a $60 COVID-19 test in recent years, and which also did not impact Hawaii’s visitor numbers.

So their aim is to raise necessary funds to protect, restore, or enhance Hawaii’s terrestrial and marine natural resources.