Hawai’i is shifting toward regenerative tourism, yet extractive logics persist

• https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2025.2582648

Abstract

Mass-tourism destinations are under criticism for intensifying climate risk, biodiversity loss, and social inequities, yet practical alternatives remain scarce. Hawai’i typifies this problem: since the 1970s, the archipelago has relied on a high-volume model that drew 10.4 million visitors in 2019 and continues to generate more than one-fifth of the state’s GDP, while concurrently eroding beaches, exhausting freshwater supplies, and commodifying Native Hawaiian culture. Recognizing these pressures, Hawai’i adopted regenerative tourism as a strategic objective in 2019 to pursue net-positive outcomes, including ecological restoration, cultural revival, and community wealth. However, the application and feasibility of regenerative tourism in mature, mass-market settings remain unclear. To address this gap, this research is a qualitative case study of the Waikīkī beachfront hotel corridor. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2023 with hotel sector stakeholders, state planners, not-for-profit leaders, cultural practitioners, and consultants. Interviews were analyzed with reflexive thematic coding and interpreted through an adapted regenerative tourism analytical framework. Findings reveal uneven but significant movement toward regenerative approaches. Public-sector actors and Kānaka Maoli practitioners articulate multi-capital definitions of wealth and pilot participatory supply-driven innovations. Conversely, for-profit operators retain a demand-driven approach, rebranding experiential add-ons as ‘regenerative’ while maintaining extractive infrastructures. The study thus demonstrates both the promise and the limits of implementing regenerative principles in high-volume contexts, recommending Indigenous co-governance and transdisciplinary learning loops to move beyond branding.

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