Letters: Culturally appropriate tourism welcomed; Restaurants need to help defeat coronavirus; No justice in releasing Reagan’s would-be killer

Hooray for the new tourism plan so well summarized in Jayna Omaye’s article, “Culture and tourism” (Star-Advertiser, Sept. 26). The new plan will attract a higher caliber of visitors by culturally appropriate and sensitive marketing before they arrive.

Once they are here, the new plan will better manage tourists through overdue best practices such as reservations, curated and authentic experiences, redistribution of excess demand, a tourism fee and better enforcement at hot spots.

With this plan, our tourism industry can be profitable again while our island paradise will be protected for kamaaina to enjoy. A special kudo should go to the Hawaii Tourism Authority for asking the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement and the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association for advice before deciding everything.

Maybe that kind of strategic, long-range thinking is what we should expect from our very first Native Hawaiian in the HTA driver’s seat.

Jay Henderson

Ala Moana

Noisy Kalakaua Avenue mars visitor experience

As we concluded our nine-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, we were forced to wonder if all the hotels within earshot of Kalakaua Avenue are in collusion by not warning prospective visitors on their websites that the main street in paradise is really an earsplitting circus.

We were never able to relax on our balcony in the evenings because of the cacophony of noise from amplified electric guitars, singing and deafening music, all along the sidewalk of Kalakaua Avenue. In fact, we brought the balcony table and chairs into our room on the 16th floor in order to have a seated conversation without shouting to hear each other.

Sleeping was yet another challenge. We are visiting from Florida, meaning a time difference of six hours. Recovering from our long flight to Hawaii never happened because of waking repeatedly to the sound of street performers every night.

We are aware of Hawaii’s struggle with overtourism. Maybe this is a strategy to keep people from returning to Waikiki hotels?

Denise Landay

St. Petersburg, Fla.

Restaurants need to help defeat coronavirus

Your editorial, “Don’t falter in pandemic fight” (Star-Advertiser, Our View, Sept. 26), reminded me of the Kailua restaurant owner whose business was shuttered for a single night recently because he chose to not check diners’ vaccine cards.

This person then went on social media to publicly berate the customer who notified the Honolulu Liquor Commission. He abdicated any and all responsibility and accountability for choosing to break the law, potentially endangering all who dined at this restaurant.

No one is above the law. Wearing a mask and pulling out a vaccine card to enter a restaurant, theater or other place of business is not the way we would like to live out our days, but choices and actions we take today have consequences that affect our future.

We need “good public participation.” We must work together to defeat COVID-19!

Don’t people get this simple concept?

Jill Thach

Kailua

Keeping fans from UH games makes no sense

If we go to the beach with a group of fewer than 10 people to look at and swim in the ocean, there can be more than 1,000 people on the beach. This is within the current restrictions since we are all in small groups.

But if we go to a University of Hawaii football game in small groups to watch the game and the field, that is considered a gathering of 1,000 people and is not allowed under our current COVID-19 restrictions. This makes no sense.

When we replace Gov. David Ige in the next election, let’s make sure we replace him with someone who has some common sense.

Fred Van Osten

Lahaina

No justice in releasing Reagan’s would-be killer

I am surprised that John Hinckley, who shot President Ronald Reagan, is being seriously considered for full unsupervised release (“John Hinckley, who shot Reagan, to be freed from oversight,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 27).

The news releases say little about James Brady, Reagan’s press secretary, who was also seriously wounded at the same time and eventually died of his gunshot wounds.

Justice is not being served at all in this case.

Jay Pineda

Waikiki

People losing ability to be self-sufficient

Rarely do people understand that every action of government has a cost and a result. These are the direct and indirect causes of the lack of affordable housing and homelessness.

There are still those who want everything given to them at the expense of others, notwithstanding they lack the ability to be self-sufficient due to their living only for today. They expect government to take care of them at the expense of others.

Of course it doesn’t matter that 50% of the individual taxpayers, of which these people are the primary majority, pay less than 3% of the taxes. If they cannot be self- sufficient, it is unrealistic that throwing money at them will be a solution to their financial situation. A fool and his money are soon parted.

It is also apparent that we have reached the law of diminishing returns. Of our four congressional representatives, only one understands these basic concepts.

Carlton Chang

Kaimuki

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