Maui panel passes bill to curb vacation rentals and boost housing supply after Lahaina wildfire
It's the latest action by a top global tourist destination to push back against the infiltration of vacationers into residential neighborhoods and tourism overwhelming their communities. In May, Spain ordered Airbnb to block more than 65,000 holiday listings on its platform for having violated rules. Last month, thousands of protesters in European cities like Barcelona and Venice, Italy, marched against the ills of overtourism.
The Maui County Council's housing committee voted 6-3 to pass the bill, which would close a loophole that has allowed owners of condos in apartment zones to rent their units for days or weeks at a time instead of a minimum of 180 days. The mandate would take effect in the West Maui district that includes Lahaina in 2028. The rest of the county would have until 2030 to comply.
The council still needs to vote on the bill, but the committee's result is a strong indication of the final outcome because all nine council members sit on the housing panel. The mayor is expected to sign the bill, which he proposed.
"Bill 9 is a critical first step in restoring our commitment to prioritize housing for local residents — and securing a future where our keiki can live, grow, and thrive in the place they call home,' Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement, using the Hawaiian word for children.
Vacation rentals take up one-fifth of Maui's housing
Vacation rentals currently account for 21% of all housing in the county, which has a population of about 165,000 people.
An analysis by University of Hawaii economists predicted the measure would add 6,127 units to Maui's long-term housing stock, increasing supply by 13%.
Opponents questioned whether local residents could afford the condos in question, noting that many of the buildings they are in are aging and their units come with high mortgages, insurance payments, maintenance and special assessment costs.
Alicia Humiston said her condo is in a hotel zone so it won't be affected. But she predicted the measure will hurt housekeepers, plumbers, electricians and other small business owners who help maintain vacation rentals.
'It's not what's best for the the community,' said Humiston, who is president of the Rentals by Owner Awareness Association.
Bissen proposed the legislation last year after wildfire survivors and activists camped out on a beach popular with tourists to demand change.
Mayor says tourism will continue but must not 'hollow out our neighborhoods'
The University of Hawaii study said only about 600 new housing units are built in the county each year so converting the vacation rentals would be equivalent to a decade's worth of new housing development. Condo prices would drop 20-40%, the study estimated.
The report also predicted one-quarter of Maui County's visitor accommodations would vanish and visitor spending would sink 15%. It estimated gross domestic product would contract by 4%.
The mayor said such economic analysis failed to tell a full story, noting families are torn apart when high housing costs drive out relatives and that cultural knowledge disappears when generations leave Maui.
The mayor told the council the bill was one part of a broader housing strategy that would include building new housing, investing in infrastructure and stopping illegally operated vacation rentals. He said there were limits to how much new housing could be built because of constraints on water supplies and sewer infrastructure.
Tourism would continue on Maui but must do so in a way 'that doesn't hollow out our neighborhoods,' the mayor said.
The mayor's staff told council members that visitor spending would decline with the measure but most of the drop would be on lodging. Because 94% of those who own vacation rentals in apartment zones don't live on Maui, they said much of this income already flows off-island. They predicted the county budget could withstand an estimated $61 million decline in annual tax revenue resulting from the measure.
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USA Today
39 minutes ago
- USA Today
Forget 'Aloha.' This is the Hawaiian word every traveler should know.
There's an important Hawaiian phrase that all travelers should get familiar with, and it isn't aloha. It's malama. In Hawaiian language, malama means "to take care of" and it's a core Native Hawaiian value; the belief that people have a responsibility to steward their community and island home. It's often combined with the word "aina" (land) for a saying commonly heard throughout the islands: "malama aina," which translates to "take care of the land." It encapsulates the sustainable lifestyle of the ancient Hawaiians, who believed that if you take care of the island, it will reciprocate and provide sustenance. However, living out malama isn't just reserved for residents, but can be especially impactful for visitors who choose to volunteer during their trips. By giving back, travelers can help regenerate the islands rather than just utilize resources before returning home. More people hope to leave a positive impact from their trips, with 69% of travelers saying they want to leave places better than when they arrived, according to a 2025 survey. To make it easier for those wanting to be more responsible travelers, the Hawaii Visitors Convention Bureau (HVCB) and Hawaiian Tourism Authority (HTA) launched the Malama Hawaii Program in November of 2020. The program aims to connect travelers with volunteer opportunities with over 36 organizations across the state, with an incentive of earning a special discount from participating hotels. "When travelers engage with our land, our culture, and our communities through enriching volunteer experiences, they discover what we have always known: that caring for Hawaii changes you," said Dr. Aaron J. Sala, president and CEO of the HVCB. "These experiences create a connection between visitor and place, fostering a deeper understanding of our values while ensuring that tourism serves both our communities and those who choose to journey here." Why should you volunteer while traveling? Across the world, destinations are facing challenges caused by overtourism, ranging from increased costs of living to the strain on natural resources and infrastructure. Some, such as Venice and Hawaii, have implemented a tourist fee to offset those impacts by placing the responsibility back onto the visitor. Hawaii is a perennial destination that has historically struggled with negative impacts from the dominating tourism industry, which accounts for nearly a quarter of its economy. Some Hawaii residents believe that tourism "creates more problems than benefits," according to a 2024 Resident Sentiment Survey by the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Locals cited higher costs of living, damage to the environment, and "a lack of respect" for culture and tradition. Volunteering while traveling goes against the grain. As a regenerative tourism practice, "voluntourism" means travelers are actively improving a destination, according to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Like sustainable tourism, regenerative tourism focuses on "reducing negative impacts and enhancing positive ones." Since an online dashboard was launched last spring, the Malama Hawaii Program has tracked 2,835 volunteers and over 11,412 hours statewide, according to an HVCB spokesperson. Travelers can browse volunteer opportunities, filtering by activity type and even island, and view available discounts, such as a complimentary night or meal. When travelers seek out bettering a place, they not only forge deeper connections with the residents and local culture but also gain a more immersive travel experience. In other words, they get a more authentic look at Hawaii. A volunteer day spent restoring a loko ia (fishpond) means someone learns firsthand about how the ancient Hawaiians practiced sustainable aquaculture to feed their communities. Their work also has the potential for a lasting positive impact, such as replanting native trees in reforestation efforts. "For residents, this means tourism becomes a force that strengthens rather than strains our home, ensuring that the places we cherish are protected and preserved," said Sala. "This is how we move beyond consumption to contribution, creating pathways for visitors to give back to the very places that inspire them." The practice of voluntourism can be problematic if someone views it solely as a "feel-good" opportunity. Still, as long as their intentions are to meaningfully interact with the host community, they can make a genuinely positive impact. They also have the chance to have a personally transformative experience by growing their worldview, according to a 2020 review in the Journal of Travel Research. Malama Hawaii Program opportunities Below are some volunteer opportunities from the Hawaii Malama Program: Giving back anywhere It's not just in Hawaii where travelers are encouraged to do their part in minimizing harm. Across the world, more destinations are seeking to connect their visitors to meaningful volunteer experiences as part of their efforts to build a more sustainable tourism industry. In the Maldives and Fiji, travelers can participate in coral restoration projects to help conserve the pristine oceans that they hope to enjoy. Other destinations finding value in having their visitors volunteer to preserve nature – the very reason they come to visit – include the California State Park Foundation's volunteer days. At the end of the day, all travelers can malama any destination they're visiting – not just the Hawaiian Islands – and it doesn't always take coordinating an event. Simply grabbing a bag and collecting trash on the beach or in the park follows the essence of malama.
San Francisco Chronicle
39 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tariffs threaten Asian beauty product boom in US
NEW YORK (AP) — When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. 'I did a recent haul to stockpile,' she said. 'I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months.' South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the U.S. population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25% duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea, Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one 'BB creams' — a combination of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen — morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the U.S. by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the U.S. than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Statistics compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the U.S. imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54% increase from a year earlier. 'Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers,' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as 'Parasite' and 'Squid Games,' and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS, K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. 'It's all part and parcel really of the same thing,' Lovely said. 'And it can't be completely stopped by a 25% tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the U.S. And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market.' Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of 'panic buying' by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced — in Japan's case, from 25% to 15% — still higher than the current baseline of 10% tariff. But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the U.S. tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90% the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25% import tax, Zhong said. 'I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing,' she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty. Los Angeles resident Jen Chae, a content creator with over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, has explored Korean and Japanese beauty products and became personally intrigued by Chinese beauty brands over the last year. When the tariffs were first announced, Chae temporarily paused ordering from sites such as a shopping platform owned by an e-commerce company based in Hong Kong. She did not know if she would have to pay customs duties on the products she bought or the ones brands sent to her as a creator. 'I wasn't sure if those would automatically charge the entire package with a blanket tariff cost, or if it was just on certain items,' Chae said. On its website, YesStyle says it will give customers store credit to reimburse them for import charges. At Ohlolly, an online store focused on Korean products, owners Sue Greene and Herra Namhie are taking a similar pause. They purchase direct from South Korea and from licensed wholesalers in the U.S., and store their inventory in a warehouse in Ontario, California. After years of no duties, a 25% import tax would create a 'huge increase in costs to us,' Namhie said. She and Greene made two recent orders to replenish their stock when the tariffs were at 10%. But they have put further restocks on hold "because I don't think we can handle 25%,' Namhie said. They'd have to raise prices, and then shoppers might go elsewhere. The business owners and sisters are holding out on hope the U.S. and Korea settle on a lower tariff or carve out exceptions for smaller ticket items like beauty products. But they only have two to four months of inventory in their warehouse. They say that in a month they'll have to make a decision on what products to order, what to discontinue and what prices will have to increase. Rachel Weingarten, a former makeup artist who writes a daily beauty newsletter called 'Hello Gorgeous!,' said while she's devoted to K-beauty products like lip masks and toner pads, she doesn't think stockpiling is a sound practice. 'Maybe one or two products, but natural oils, vulnerable packaging and expiration dates mean that your products could go rancid before you can get to them,' she said. Weingarten said she'll still buy Korean products if prices go up, but that the beauty world is bigger than one country. 'I'd still indulge in my favorites, but am always looking for great products in general,' she said. Bhasin, in Menlo Park, California, plans to keep buying her face masks too, even if the price goes up, because she likes the quality of Korean masks.
Hamilton Spectator
39 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Tariffs threaten Asian beauty product boom in US
NEW YORK (AP) — When Amrita Bhasin, 24, learned that products from South Korea might be subject to a new tax when they entered the United States, she decided to stock up on the sheet masks from Korean brands like U-Need and MediHeal she uses a few times a week. 'I did a recent haul to stockpile,' she said. 'I bought 50 in bulk, which should last me a few months.' South Korea is one of the countries that hopes to secure a trade deal before the Aug. 1 date President Donald Trump set for enforcing nation-specific tariffs. A not-insignificant slice of the U.S. population has skin in the game when it comes to Seoul avoiding a 25% duty on its exports. Asian skin care has been a booming global business for a more than a decade, with consumers in Europe, North and South America, and increasingly the Middle East, snapping up creams, serums and balms from South Korea , Japan and China. In the United States and elsewhere, Korean cosmetics, or K-beauty for short, have dominated the trend. A craze for all-in-one 'BB creams' — a combination of moisturizer, foundation and sunscreen — morphed into a fascination with 10-step rituals and ingredients like snail mucin, heartleaf and rice water. Vehicles and electronics may be South Korea's top exports to the U.S. by value, but the country shipped more skin care and cosmetics to the U.S. than any other last year, according to data from market research company Euromonitor. France, with storied beauty brands like L'Oreal and Chanel, was second, Euromonitor said. Statistics compiled by the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent federal agency, show the U.S. imported $1.7 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics in 2024, a 54% increase from a year earlier. 'Korean beauty products not only add a lot of variety and choice for Americans, they really embraced them because they were offering something different for American consumers,' Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said. Along with media offerings such as 'Parasite' and 'Squid Games,' and the popularity of K-pop bands like BTS , K-beauty has helped boost South Korea's profile globally, she said. 'It's all part and parcel really of the same thing,' Lovely said. 'And it can't be completely stopped by a 25% tariff, but it's hard to see how it won't influence how much is sold in the U.S. And I think what we're hearing from producers is that it also really decreases the number of products they want to offer in this market.' Senti Senti, a retailer that sells international beauty products at two New York boutiques and through an e-commerce site, saw a bit of 'panic buying' by customers when Trump first imposed punitive tariffs on goods from specific countries, manager Winnie Zhong said. The rush slowed down after the president paused the new duties for 90 days and hasn't picked up again, Zhong said, even with Trump saying on July 7 that a 25% tax on imports from Japan and South Korea would go into effect on Aug. 1. Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia subsequently reached agreements with the Trump administration that lowered the tariff rates their exported goods faced — in Japan's case, from 25% to 15% — still higher than the current baseline of 10% tariff. But South Korea has yet to clinch an agreement, despite having a free trade agreement since 2012 that allowed cosmetics and most other consumer goods to enter the U.S. tax-free. Since the first store owned by Senti Senti opened 16 years ago, beauty products from Japan and South Korea became more of a focus and now account for 90% the stock. The business hasn't had to pass on any tariff-related costs to customers yet, but that won't be possible if the products are subject to a 25% import tax, Zhong said. 'I'm not really sure where the direction of K-beauty will go to with the tariffs in place, because one of the things with K-beauty or Asian beauty is that it's supposed to be accessible pricing,' she said. Devoted fans of Asian cosmetics will often buy direct from Asia and wait weeks for their packages to arrive because the products typically cost less than they do in American stores. Rather than stocking up on their favorite sunscreens, lip tints and toners, some shoppers are taking a pause due to the tariff uncertainty. Los Angeles resident Jen Chae, a content creator with over 1.2 million YouTube subscribers, has explored Korean and Japanese beauty products and became personally intrigued by Chinese beauty brands over the last year. When the tariffs were first announced, Chae temporarily paused ordering from sites such as , a shopping platform owned by an e-commerce company based in Hong Kong. She did not know if she would have to pay customs duties on the products she bought or the ones brands sent to her as a creator. 'I wasn't sure if those would automatically charge the entire package with a blanket tariff cost, or if it was just on certain items,' Chae said. On its website, YesStyle says it will give customers store credit to reimburse them for import charges. At Ohlolly, an online store focused on Korean products, owners Sue Greene and Herra Namhie are taking a similar pause. They purchase direct from South Korea and from licensed wholesalers in the U.S., and store their inventory in a warehouse in Ontario, California. After years of no duties, a 25% import tax would create a 'huge increase in costs to us,' Namhie said. She and Greene made two recent orders to replenish their stock when the tariffs were at 10%. But they have put further restocks on hold 'because I don't think we can handle 25%,' Namhie said. They'd have to raise prices, and then shoppers might go elsewhere. The business owners and sisters are holding out on hope the U.S. and Korea settle on a lower tariff or carve out exceptions for smaller ticket items like beauty products. But they only have two to four months of inventory in their warehouse. They say that in a month they'll have to make a decision on what products to order, what to discontinue and what prices will have to increase. Rachel Weingarten, a former makeup artist who writes a daily beauty newsletter called 'Hello Gorgeous!,' said while she's devoted to K-beauty products like lip masks and toner pads, she doesn't think stockpiling is a sound practice. 'Maybe one or two products, but natural oils, vulnerable packaging and expiration dates mean that your products could go rancid before you can get to them,' she said. Weingarten said she'll still buy Korean products if prices go up, but that the beauty world is bigger than one country. 'I'd still indulge in my favorites, but am always looking for great products in general,' she said. Bhasin, in Menlo Park, California, plans to keep buying her face masks too, even if the price goes up, because she likes the quality of Korean masks. 'If prices will go up, I will not shift to U.S. products,' she said. 'For face masks, I feel there are not a ton of solid and reliable substitutes in the U.S.' ___ AP audience engagement editor Karena Phan in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
