Achieving Sustainable Tourism in Hawaii using a Sustainability Evaluation System

This publication presents an overview of sustainable tourism and outlines the current situation in Hawai‘I with the intention of helping the public understand how tourism in Hawai‘i can become more sustainable. As Cox and Cusick (2006) pointed out, the complexity of sustainability challenges the ability of a single institution to ensure implementation of long-term planning by public and private stakeholders. The first section below presents definitions of sustainable tourism and ecotourism, which will be needed in order to design a vision in this area.

The next section is an overview of the existing sustainable tourism and ecotourism efforts in the state. Finally, the components of a system designed to encourage sustainable tourism are discussed and recommendations for moving forward are summarized.

Authors

• Linda J. Cox – CTAHR Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management
• Melanie Saucier – CTAHR Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management
• John Cusick – UH Mānoa Environmental Center
• Harold Richins – UH Mānoa School of Travel Industry Management
• Bixler McClure – UH Mānoa Department of Geography