HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0739.401 2016-2018 Murashige, Laura
From: Gabrielle Fortier <gfortier15@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2018 12:32 PM
To: Council Testimony
Cc: Poindexter, Valerie; Chung, Aaron; Lee Loy, Sue; Ohara, Eileen; Ruggles,Jennifer; David,
Maile; Kanuha, Dru; Eoff, Karen; Richards,Tim; hilifemedia.buzz@gmail.com
Subject: Bill 108
Hello,
I recently visited the Big Island as a tourist (on a lovely 6 week holiday) and learned about Bill 108. I wanted to
take a moment to share my thoughts with you from a tourism perspective.
co CIO
During my 6 week vacation, I stayed in 5 different locations:
1. Airbnb -private room in a house - Papaaloa, HI - 28 nights *-‹ .
2. Airbnb -private cottage on a person's property- Waiohinu, HI.- 6 nights ~~- a
3. Hotel - Courtyard King Kamehameha- Kailua-kona, HI - 1 night r-7'
4. Resort- Mauna Kea Resort- 5 nights ®,
5. Airbnb -private standalone cottage -Volcano, HI - 1 night
c. —
I could have never experienced the Big Island this way if I had to stay in'a hotel/resort the entire trip, nor would
I even consider it. Airbnb allowed me to come to the Big Island for a longer duration, to visit different parts of
--the Island where hotels/resorts are not as prevalent, and overall vastly improved my experience.
I am pretty sure I ate at every restaurant and visited almost every business in Volcano, something I never would
have done if I had been staying in a far away resort. In that case, Volcanoes National Park would have been a
quick day trip rather than a 3-day experience.
I enjoyed my 5 nights at the Mauna Kea Resort, but on the last day i was itching to get out of there and back
into the real world. It's beautiful - but I don't golf, and there is a whole lot more to see on the Big Island than the
beautiful beaches they have. While I appreciate what resorts can offer tourists, the resort model is outdated and
no longer suits the needs of my demographic (I am a 27 year old single female). My friends and.I love to travel
- but if a place does not have airbnb, we will likely not go there together because it is impossible for us all to
afford to be together in that setting. It would also not be very enjoyable to each be in our own hotel rooms.
I have multiple other trips planned through airbnb with friends this year and having airbnb available makes it
possible for different types of people to come and enjoy your Island. I really hope your committee carefully
considers the impact limiting airbnb or making it difficult for airbnb hosts will have on your tourism industry.
Please let me know if you have any questions about my experiences using airbnb on the Big Island. I would be
happy to provide additional information.
i look forward to returning again soon and hope that when I go to book my next trip I still see lots of airbnb
accommodations to choose from.
Best,
Ga .4Df
Gabrielle Fortier Comm. No. `t
gfortier15@gmail.com Ref. To:
1
Ref. Date NOV 2 . 2018