Hawaiʻi is not alone. From Barcelona to Bali, the world’s most desirable destinations are grappling with the same challenge: how to balance tourism revenue without pushing local people to the outskirts.

It is particular crucial in Hawaiʻi because there are no outskirts. But this also presents Hawaiʻi with an opportunity not just to respond, but to lead.

The technology already exists. The demand is proven. What’s missing is the willingness to challenge a broken status quo and design a system that works for residents first, while still welcoming visitors.

Ideas showcases stories, opinion and analysis about Hawaiʻi, from the state’s sharpest thinkers, to stretch our collective thinking about a problem or an issue. Email news@civilbeat.org to submit an idea or an essay.

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Short-term rentals are a double-edged sword. They generate significant tax revenue and provide a multitude of alternatives to hotels. This allows visitors of different income levels to experience Hawaiʻi.

Yet, it also displaces renters, drives up housing costs, hollows out neighborhoods and seeds resentment between neighbors. What’s especially painful is who benefits — and who doesn’t.

In Hawaiʻi, we all pay extraordinarily high property taxes, construction costs, and living expenses just to stay rooted here. In the five years, we have lived in West Maui, we’ve seen our water, our insurance and our electricity rates increase significantly.

Yet one homeowner, who has the funds to have yet another home, can legally earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year renting short-term, while their neighbors can’t rent their own home for even a month without risking penalties. The current system rewards those with multiple properties, deep pockets, and access to lawyers and consultants — often people who don’t even live here.

Money that could circulate locally — supporting small businesses, schools, and communities — moves to the mainland instead. That is not a recipe for long-term stability.

A Bold But Practical Idea

What if Hawaiʻi stopped trying to regulate around Airbnb — and instead built its own short-term rental platform?

This is not a futuristic experiment. At its core, a short-term rental site is simply a booking, payment, and calendar system — technology that Airbnb and VRBO have already proven at massive scale. Hawaiʻi does not need to manage the entire world like these larger sites, so the buildout is fairly simple. It only needs to manage Hawaiʻi.

In fact, a Hawaiʻi-only platform could be simpler, more efficient, and more transparent than global competitors. It wouldn’t need endless growth, global marketing, or complex international compliance. Its purpose would be clear: protect housing, support communities, and provide a fair way for residents to participate in the visitor economy.

And being the first to do this is important — imagine the press (and the inevitable push back from Airbnb and VRBO). It will happen because this is a direct threat to their business model — but we don’t need to give more money to Silicon Valley billionaires.

The rule would be simple and universal: Every homeowner in Hawaiʻi could rent their home short-term for exactly eight weeks per year. No more. Not a single day longer.

Homeowners would choose when those weeks occur. Once the clock runs out, it stops — automatically.

Why Eight Weeks Changes Everything

This single limit would transform the housing landscape.

First, it levels the playing field. Every homeowner — regardless of wealth or connections — gets the same opportunity to benefit from living in one of the most desirable places on Earth. Those eight weeks could help pay for college tuition, medical bills, home repairs, or a family vacation. Or renting out just one bedroom for 8 weeks — could make the different in making those ends meet. That feels reasonable. That feels fair.

Second, it restores housing to housing. With only eight weeks available, the financial incentive shifts back toward finding long-term tenants. It even allows for voluntary, transparent agreements where tenants agree to vacate for a short, defined period in exchange for reduced rent or shared benefits.

Neighborhoods remain neighborhoods. 10-month lease could be negotiated — perhaps renter and landlord could split the profit?

Third, it protects community life. No more blocks dominated by revolving doors of tourists. No more entire residential areas quietly converted into visitor zones. Visitors are spread across price points and locations — bringing diversity without disruption.

Fourth, it strengthens Hawaiʻi’s tourism future. Community and culture are what make a place worth visiting in the first place. Study after study shows that millennials and future travelers are not just looking for beaches — they want learning, adventure, and authentic interaction with local culture. Hollowed-out neighborhoods don’t offer that. Living communities do.

A Smarter Revenue Model

The financial case is just as compelling.

Short-term rentals in Hawaiʻi already generate substantial tax revenue through the transient accommodations tax, the general excise tax, and county surcharges — often totaling close to 18% of gross rental income. But today, that revenue flows through private global platforms that also extract significant service fees — often around 15% per booking — that leave Hawaiʻi entirely.

A state-run platform could change that overnight.

Taxes could be collected immediately at booking. Compliance would be automatic. And Hawaiʻi could retain the equivalent of the platform fee that Airbnb currently takes. In effect, the state could capture close to 30% of each transaction — keeping that money in Hawaiʻi to fund housing, infrastructure, environmental protection, and disaster preparedness.

And there would be saving in the compliance area — no need for people to review farm plans, proposals, no policing websites, no threatening letters and fines.

This isn’t anti-business. It’s smart governance.

An Inevitable Shift

This idea isn’t radical — it’s inevitable. Communities around the world are already confronting the damage caused by these platforms, the next evolution is clear: communities will begin to disrupt the disrupters.

There is no reason that, in the future, a traveler planning a trip to Colorado couldn’t simply visit the state of Colorado’s short-term rental site to find a place to stay — just as they book state park cabins or public campgrounds today. Hawaiʻi has the chance to be first.

Airbnb proved the concept. Now it’s time for communities to define the next chapter.
Hawaiʻi doesn’t need to choose between tourism and residents. With bold thinking and local control, it can protect both — and once again show the world what leadership looks like.