The Star-Advertiser’s lead article, “Lodging boom” (Nov. 6) gives us a one-sided, hugely favorable view of the current hotel construction boom. The article bemoans the lost hotel inventory over the past 20 years. But shouldn’t we see fewer hotel rooms as a positive development — especially for our local residents, who suffer in numerous ways from overtourism?

It is clear that the 10 million-plus visitors who arrive in our islands each year are far too many for us to sustain. There is praise for high-rise buildings being converted into new hotels. But shouldn’t we demand their conversion into affordable housing for local residents?

Today’s hotel inventory is vastly overbuilt. In retrospect, a building moratorium on new hotels should have been imposed decades ago. Given the rising local resentment of the tourism industry, we still can do it.

Noel Kent

Manoa

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