Some socio-cultural impacts of Maui’s booming tourism industry include crowding and traffic congestion which significantly impact the daily lives of locals, the commodification and commercialization of cultural practices like language and dance, and the displacement of local and native Hawaiians for the building of hotels and other tourist accommodations.
The road to Hana is one of Maui’s longest roads and biggest tourist attractions. It is also a central road for many local people’s commutes as it connects East and Central Maui. As a result of tourists often illegally parking along the roadside to take in the famous views, this central road is often congested, and thus made even more dangerous than its narrow, winding roads already render it. The increased congestion and traffic can significantly affect the daily commute times of Maui natives, and has even resulted in the creation of an instagram page documenting the terrible effects of tourist drivers titled @hanacantstandyou (Clayton, 2022). The tourism driver of this adverse socio-cultural impact is the large number of tourists themselves and the attraction of the beautiful scenery along the road to Hana, the impact is the increased traffic and longer commute times for locals, and this impact has resulted in community resentment towards tourists.
Even before Hawai’i became a popular tourist destination, its language and culture were under attack with the annexation of Hawai’i in 1898. The newly appointed government banned native Hawaiian, which resulted in the language’s near extinction. Luckily, the language has been reclaimed and there has been a significant movement towards its use. Hawai’i’s tourism industry has also moved towards this use of the language, however, it’s been a more commercialized and Westernized adoption. An example of this are native Hawaiian words that have been tainted from their original meanings to become essentially slogans for selling the Hawaiian way of life to tourists. These words include “Ohana” and “Aloha,” which, from their direct translations, mean a group of people who share everything between themselves, and love or breath of life, respectively (Clayton, 2022). Cultural practices have also been significantly impacted by the tourism industry, traditional dances like the hula kahiko, have shifted from their original sacred, traditional, and communal purposes to one of a commercial performance meant to attract and amaze tourists. The commercialization of luaus where the hula is made to be a spectacle for the enjoyment of tourists has caused this shift of purpose as well as altered the practice itself, “Today, people often associate hula with men and women in short grass skirts with a rapid movement of the hips and twirling fire… The authentic hula is a slower more soulful dance, encompassing a variety of sacred styles and moods and primarily performed by women in full, formal dress” (The House of Kamakahelei). For the purpose of profit and increased tourist appeal, native language and native cultural practices like the hula kahiko have become commodified and diluted, which impacts native Hawaiians’ relationships with these cultural practices.
Maui’s tourism industry has also caused the displacement of residents in favor of building tourism infrastructure like hotels and resorts. According to Maui’s government’s 2004 report on the issue, “With the exception of some limited employee housing projects, the economics of real estate values near resort areas have often produced a lasting need for established residents to find familiar family-oriented housing far from work, so that long-distance commuting is now part of “rural lifestyle” for many Neighbor Islanders” (Knox, p. I-10). This is a phenomenon known as in-migration, where residents show a trend of migration within an area to another part of the state or country (area). The building of tourist infrastructure like hotels and resorts has resulted in real estate economics that are no longer sustainable for residents who lived in those areas, causing this migration to more rural areas that are more family-oriented and more affordable. This disrupts communities as well as increases commuter times for the residents who work in these industries but cannot afford to live near them.
Clayton, D. (2022). Trouble in Paradise: The Effects of Tourism on the Culture of the Hawaiian Islands. Pressbooks.library.upei.ca, XI(1). https://pressbooks.library.upei.ca/artsreview-xi/chapter/trouble-in-paradise/
Gunnison, S. (2019, March 28). Overtourism Is Killing Maui. Medium. https://medium.com/@serenegunnison_78499/overtourism-is-killing-hawaii-a94bd96d6739
Hawaiian Culture – Hula kahiko. (n.d.). Official Website of the House of Kamakahelei. https://houseofkamakahelei.org/articles/culture/hawaiian-culture-hula-kahiko
Knox, J. M., & Associates, Inc. (2004). Planning for Sustainable Tourism Part IV: Socio-Cultural & Public Input Study Volume II: Socio-Cultural Impact, General Population (pp. 1–178) [Review of Planning for Sustainable Tourism Part IV: Socio-Cultural & Public Input Study Volume II: Socio-Cultural Impact, General Population]. Hawaii. Dept. of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. https://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/visitor/sustainable-tourism-project/drafts/General-Pop-Socio-Cultural-Report.pdf