Hawaii senators support effort for ‘travel bubble’ agreement with Japan | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

An effort to reopen Hawaii’s tourism economy by forming a pilot “travel-safely bubble” with Japan got a preliminary blessing from state lawmakers today.

Hawaii Executive Collaborative members Paul Yonamine and Duane Kurisu appeared before the Senate Special Committee on COVID-19 today to ask for support to explore reaching a travel agreement with Japan to relax travel restrictions between the two destinations.

The nonprofit Hawaii Executive Collaborative bills itself as “a group of leaders from all sectors committed to driving collective action to address our community’s toughest challenges.”

Yonamine, Central Pacific Financial Corp. chairman and CEO, said an agreement between Japan and Hawaii would likely allow incoming visitors from Japan, who have met certain safety thresholds, to bypass Hawaii’s mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for trans-Pacific passengers.

Yonamine said travel bubble planners are ready to start meeting Monday and have set tentative goal of July 1 for welcoming back Japan, which is Hawai’s top international market.

Last year, Hawaii welcomed 1.6 million visitors from Japan, which supplied 15% of all the visitors to Hawaii. However, only 13 visitors traveled from Japan to Hawaii last month due to COVID-19 fears and tourism lockdowns.

Nearly all trans-Pacific flights to Hawaii were canceled after the state instituted a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for incoming out-of-state passengers on March 26, which was extended to the interislands on April 1. Both quarantines are currently in effect through June 30.

“Given the significance of Japan tourists to Hawaii and Japan’s low COVID-19 infection and death rates, a travel bubble with Japan could serve as an effective start and pilot in the gradual reopening of tourism,” Yonamine said.

Yonamine told lawmakers that there is a tremendous urgency to restart Hawaii tourism, which despite talk of diversification remains the most promising avenue to economic recovery.

“An ailing economy and high unemployment often are associated with more crime, homelessness and mental health issues all that can change our way of life in the islands and make us less attractive for visitors,” he said. “Competing destinations in Asia and Europe are quickly solidifying hygiene protocols and standards and reopening their markets to tourists — any delay can cause our state to lose market share in tourism.”

Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D-Kaneohe, MCBH, Kailua, Heeia, Ahuimanu) said he expects there would be significant public interest in doing due diligence on the travel bubble concept.

“The reality is that the tourism traffic that we get right now is not high-spend Japanese families who are gonna stay in Waikiki. It’s wannabe Instagram influencers from the West Coast who are staying in illegal vacation rentals and blatantly violating the quarantine,” Keohokalole said. “So in lieu of any alternatives, this seems like a reasonable proposition that I think we all would like to facilitate.”

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz sent a letter to Gov. David Ige on May 26 advocating to create a task force to pursue a travel bubble. In the letter, Dela Cruz pointed out that similar concepts already are moving forward worldwide. China and Korea opened a travel bubble this month for business travelers between Seoul and 10 Chinese regions, including Shanghai, Dela Cruz said.

On May 15, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania created their own travel corridor between the three Baltic States, he said. Australia and New Zealand also are pursuing agreements, Dela Cruz added.

Dela Cruz sent the request at the urging of the Hawaii Executive Collaborative. However, he and the other Senate committee members, urged the group today to abandon the government task force idea so that they didn’t get bogged down in government bureaucracy. Instead, they offered a letter of support and urged the group to form its own plans and then come back to the state for further vetting.

Sen. Donna Kim (D- Kapalama, Alewa, Kalihi Valley, Ft. Shafter, Moanalua Gardens & Valley, portions of Halawa and Aiea) told Yonamine that a task force would be “inefficient” and she’d rather rather see a template from the private side that the Senate committee could push. She said “we aren’t going to get this off the ground,” if state agencies like the Department of Health get involved.

Sen. Kurt Fevella (R- Ewa Beach, Ocean Pointe, Ewa by Gentry, Iroquois Point, portion of Ewa Villages) drew laughter when he said, “If you want to start in July of this year not next year, you need to get it down on paper.”