Cuts expected to have little effect on isle tourism

Federal officials warn of likely flight delays if spending cuts of $1.2 trillion kick in

By Dave Segal

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Feb 23, 2013

~~<p>A Hawaii tourism official said flight delays that could occur next week if automatic federal spending cuts are triggered shouldn't affect the state's tourism industry as much as other destinations.</p>
<p>"It would have a huge impact if airports were closed, but my understanding is that it wouldn't get to that," said David Uchiyama, vice president of brand management for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "I think it affects us more with air traffic controllers. At this point, fortunately because we're not a business destination as much as we'd like to be and more people are here on leisure, I don't think the impact will be as great. That's without seeing the full impact of the staffing."</p>
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A Hawaii tourism official said flight delays that could occur next week if automatic federal spending cuts are triggered shouldn't affect the state's tourism industry as much as other destinations.

"It would have a huge impact if airports were closed, but my understanding is that it wouldn't get to that," said David Uchiyama, vice president of brand management for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "I think it affects us more with air traffic controllers. At this point, fortunately because we're not a business destination as much as we'd like to be and more people are here on leisure, I don't think the impact will be as great. That's without seeing the full impact of the staffing." Login for more...