How many tourists is too many tourists?

Does that question even matter anymore, or does capitalism trump all with its “Never enough!” war cry?

In the mid-2000s, as the number of tourists coming to Hawaii each year was nearing 7 million, people were saying, “Holy cow, we’ll be splitting at the seams!” Now we’ve hit 8 million and have had record numbers for the past five years, but nobody seems to be talking about a limit anymore, like maybe we’ve all become accustomed to being crowded. Like maybe we lost the fight.

Tourism used to be in designated tourism zones, but now it has spread everywhere.

Tourists are jockeying for parking spaces at “remote” trailheads on Oahu, Maui and Kauai. Kailua is swarming with people on bicycles buying shave ice and $5 trinkets. The North Shore is gridlocked whenever there’s surf to be seen, of any size. Picturesque places with free or minimal admission like the hike to Makapuu Lighthouse or Maunawili Falls or even peaceful Byodo-In Temple are crowded and un-peaceful. The Fire Department needs a separate department for rescuing tourists who get in trouble hiking where they shouldn’t hike and swimming where they shouldn’t swim.

Recently, a group of foreign tourists in their 20s was at an east-side 7-Eleven buying loaves of bread, cans of soup and enough Doritos to keep them orange, greasy and fed for a week. They were doing their Airbnb grocery shopping instead of staying at a hotel and eating at restaurants like they’re supposed to. They should have been at the new International Market Place, which feels overbuilt and undervisited but is one place on Oahu where you can find peace and quiet.

It would be one thing if the explosion in tourism meant better living for everyone, nicer schools, cleaner parks, spiffy roads, but we’re getting all the tourism problems without the tourism benefits.

Last week the state Council on Revenues reported that, despite record arrivals, the state government will collect about $155 million less in tax revenue than had been projected. Why? They’re not sure. They’ll check back in a few months.

Last year Gov. David Ige vetoed a bill that would have allowed companies like Airbnb to collect and remit taxes on behalf of hosts and visitors. His logic was that would legitimize some illegal rentals, which is a reasonable position to take, but now we have the illegals and we aren’t collecting the taxes.

Many Hawaii residents long ago gave up Waikiki as too touristy. Now it seems Waikiki is too touristy even for tourists, and they’re moving out into the suburbs, staying in people’s houses, paying 50 bucks a night to sleep on a sofa, forging their own trails into what used to be wilderness. Those 8 million people are everywhere.

Have we reached the point of diminishing returns yet? We used to worry that Hawaii would be ruined for local residents. We should now be worried that it could be ruined for tourists.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.