Kalapana Kollars leading a Hawaiian cultural class.Lahaina Restoration Foundation/Supplied
When I checked in to my hotel in Kaanapali, Maui, I was asked what brought me to the island. I told the pair of employees at the front desk that I was writing a story about how to be a respectful tourist in Hawaii. One of the staff chuckled to himself. I told him it looked like he had some thoughts. He said he wasn’t sure he should say anything while wearing his name badge.
Tourism in Hawaii has made a lot of headlines of late. The industry employs roughly 20 per cent of Native Hawaiians and represents a quarter of the state’s economy. But it’s suffered from overtourism, particularly during the pandemic when many so tourists flocked there, overwhelming a sector in deep recovery mode, that at one point last year the mayor of Maui asked airlines to bring fewer visitors to his island. Also last year, a drought on the island prompted water restrictions for residents, with fines of US$500 being issued if people were found using water for activities such as washing a car or watering a lawn. Hotels and resorts meanwhile still had decorative water features flowing.
The thing is, Hawaii is beautiful. It certainly looks like what many would call paradise. I drove the same ocean-hugging road multiple times during my stay on Maui, from Kaanapali to the towns of Lahaina and Wailuku, and eventually the airport, and I never tired of the views of rugged cliffs, volcanic hills and the sparkling Pacific. Often the only thing running through my head was, “Wow.”
A couple days later, during my stay at the Westin Maui Resort and Spa, I chatted with a bartender as I ordered lunch. A Native Hawaiian, he said he thought tourists should be able to come to Hawaii, but that they have to be responsible.
What exactly does “responsible” mean? The state’s tourism board has created a program so that it’s easier for tourists to figure it out – and act accordingly. The state-wide Malama Hawaii Program is, on its surface, classic voluntourism. Visitors spend a day cleaning a beach, say, in exchange for a free night’s stay at their hotel. But there are a number of experiences that focus on cultural stewardship, and it’s that kind of responsibility and respect that Native Hawaiians are increasingly looking for.
The Lahaina Restoration Foundation offers one of these experiences. The foundation oversees 14 historical sites in the town, the most bustling area of Maui’s west coast. Because of its location, it’s always been a hub, from precontact to Kingdom of Hawaii, plantations to early tourism, which means it’s home to a variety of artifacts that have been amassing over the Foundation’s 60-year history. Tourists can volunteer to help the Foundation with its archives. The three-hour experience includes working with staff to describe or transcribe historical documents and measuring artifacts, and a tailored tour of one of the foundation’s sites or museums, such as the Baldwin Home (from the missionary era) or the Old Lahaina Prison.
Kalapana Kollars, the foundation’s cultural programs director, says he is seeing increased interest from tourists in the islands’ cultural history. “That doesn’t mean that there aren’t other people that come here just to enjoy tropical weather and mai tais,” he says. “But when someone comes through our door to join us here it’s a purposeful search.”
The experience runs just twice a week, which is intentional, Kollars says: “We haven’t scaled up really large. We like to have our connection be really high grade instead of touching a lot of people very lightly.”
Just down the road, the Old Lahaina Luau can only be described as a large-scale. The venue for the three-hour dinner and show seats 400, and the programming is unapologetically authentic.
The Old Lahaina Luau.Old Lahaina Luau/Supplied
The performance recounts the history of Hawaii through music and dance: the migration of the first Tahitian settlers; ancient hula, a way of communicating to the gods; missionaries and Merrie Monarch (King Kalakaua) eras, during which the dancers had to cover up and dancing was more subdued; to modern hula, which has been influenced by tourism.
“Our No. 1 complaint is, ‘You folks don’t have a fire knife dancer. Why did you take it out? It’s boring.’ Well, that’s not Hawaiian,” says Kawika Freitas, director of public and cultural relations at the Old Lahaina Luau, explaining that fire knife dancing is a Samoan tradition. “It doesn’t cost us more to put in another dancer that throws the knives, but that’s not being true to our culture. We take every opportunity that we can throughout the evening to make it as cultural as possible.”
Many of the waitstaff are also performers in the show, which creates a personal connection for guests, someone on hand to answer questions or explain traditions. ”Our culture was made out to be more of a joke. We’re reversing that and educating visitors,” Freitas says.
On Hawai’i Island, Micah Kamohoaliʻi’s family genealogy can be traced back to King Kamehameha, the first to rule the Kingdom of Hawaii. Kamohoaliʻi is a master teacher of the art of hula, a fashion designer, archeologist and cultural ambassador. For the past 10 years he’s been working with the island’s tourism board to better reflect Native Hawaiian culture and traditions.
Micah Kamohoaliʻi’s family genealogy can be traced back to King Kamehameha, the first to rule the Kingdom of Hawaii. Kamohoaliʻi is a master teacher of the art of hula, a fashion designer, archeologist and cultural ambassador.Anianikū Chong/Supplied
Since, the tourism board has collaborated with Native Hawaiians to develop the experiences available to visitors and the stories shared. “I think it completely changed the face of our tourism,” Kamohoaliʻi says. “Now we’re actually proud of it. We can have people learn about our island in a responsible way and a more fulfilling way.”
At the Fairmont Orchid on Hawai’i Island, Ka’iulani Blankenfeld oversees the resort’s cultural programming as the director of Hawaiian culture. Experiences for guests include Hawaiian storytelling, coconut frond weaving, hula classes and lei making.
Ka’iulani Blankenfeld oversees the Fairmont Orchid's cultural programming as the director of Hawaiian culture.Trevor Clark/Fairmont Orchid
She starts every class by asking everyone what their intention is. “Most of them come with the intention of experiencing something new,” she says. Initially they may not specifically be seeking out a Native Hawaiian cultural experience, but the takeaway after, say, a hula class – the most popular class at the hotel – is much more than mastering a few dance moves.
Hawaiians, like many Indigenous cultures around the world, did not have a written language and used song and dance for storytelling and knowledge sharing. The hand and foot movement of hula, and objects used in the performance, are all parts of the messages being conveyed.
“Guests always say, ‘I never knew that there was so much to hula and how deep hula is and how intentional it is,” Blankenfeld says.
These cultural ambassadors acknowledge that most people are coming to Hawaii for the ocean and beaches, golf courses and surfing. But they also know that there’s the opportunity to engage visitors with authentic and culturally accurate experiences so that when they go home, they can share that story.
“When tourists come now they see more authenticity and more history and want to know more about these stories versus it being just a big playground and a luau,” says Kamohoaliʻi. “They see that people actually live and breathe here. And, that they have for thousands of years.”
If you go
There are a growing number of Native Hawaiian-led experiences on all of the state’s islands. Here are a few to get your planning started.
The Hawaii tourism board’s Malama program has several activities to choose from on multiple islands, everything from reforestation to sustainable farming. Experiences are most often organized through partnering hotels where guests receive a resort credit or discount on their stay when signing up for an activity. To learn more, visit gohawaii.com/malama.
Lahaina Restoration Foundation’s Hands-On History program on Maui is offered Tuesdays and Thursdays and can be booked through the foundation at lahainarestoration.org.
Dinner and performances at Maui’s Old Lahaina Luau are offered daily and it’s strongly recommended to book in advance via oldlahainaluau.com.
Kaanapali Beach Hotel, on Maui, is known as the state’s most Hawaiian hotel, after being given that designation by the Waiaha Foundation. It has a comprehensive offering of cultural classes, free for guests, that includes Olelo, the history of the Hawaiian language, Panana, how nature is used as navigation techniques, and Maʻawe, a class about Hawaiian fibres and weaving techniques. For more information, visit kbhmaui.com.
Along with classes on weaving, ukulele and lei making, the Westin Maui Resort and Spa in Kaanapali recently launched an Awa tasting, a traditional wellness beverage that comes from the kava plant. Traditionally, Hawaiians consumed ‘awa during religious ceremonies. Today it’s used for medicinal reasons as well as a social and ceremonial drink. The tasting happens at sunset for guests dining at the hotel’s at Hale Mo’olelo restaurant. For details, visit marriott.com.
On Hawai’i Island, the Fairmont Orchid plays host to a variety of cultural and environmental classes for guests, from interpretive hikes in nearby Kalahuipua’a Historical Park to coconut frond weaving. The hula classes are the hotel’s most popular activity. For more information, visit fairmontorchid.com.
The writer was a guest of Hawaii Tourism Authority. It did not review or approve the story before publication.
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