Sustainable Tourism Development: Managing Hawaii's "Unique" Touristic Resource — Hanauma Bay

Abstract

The impact of tourism growth on the environment is an increasingly important public issue in travel destinations. However, there has been very little research focusing on the evaluation of management strategies for the sustainable development of unique touristic sites. Hawaii has one such unique site in Hanauma Bay Nature Park. In this case study we describe and evaluate the recent Honolulu City and County management plan for Hanauma Bay and suggest several criteria for the evaluation of management strategies for unique touristic resources. We conclude that Hanauma Bay is a partial success story of sustainable recreational resource management. It is argued that efficiency and benefits principles suggest that visitors to Hanauma Bay be required to pay an admission fee to ration the use of this scarce recreational resource and to generate revenues to fund park services.