Developing a Dream Destination: Tourism and Tourism Policy Planning in Hawaii

Developing a Dream Destination is an interpretive history of tourism and tourism policy development in Hawai‘i from the 1960s to the twenty-first century. Part 1 looks at the many changes in tourism since statehood (1959) and tourism’s imprint on Hawai‘i. Part 2 reviews the development of public policy toward tourism, beginning with a story of the planning process that started around 1970—a full decade before the first comprehensive State Tourism Plan was crafted and implemented. It also examines state government policies and actions taken relative to the taxation of tourism, tourism promotion, convention center development and financing, the environment, Honolulu County’s efforts to improve Waikiki, and how the Neighbor Islands have coped with explosive tourism growth. Along the way, author James Mak offers interpretations of what has worked, what has not, and why. He concludes with a chapter on the lessons learned while developing a dream destination over the past half century.

• James Mak, Author