HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2259

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to economic leakage.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the State's economy is heavily dependent on the tourism industry.  While there have been a variety of attempts to diversify Hawaii's economy in industries other than tourism, the tourism industry remains the largest industry in the State.  Due to the importance of tourism to the State's economy, the legislature finds that it is crucial for its members to have access to a breadth of information relating to the tourism moneys that enter, and potentially leave, the State.

     The legislature further finds that economic leakage occurs when revenue generated by an industry is not retained in the State's economy, but instead, is lost to foreign economies.  Examples of economic leakage in Hawaii's tourism industry include foreign-based tour operators offering Hawaii tours, the import and sale of souvenirs produced by a non-Hawaii source, and foreign debt incurred to develop hotels, resorts, and shopping areas.  A 2013 report by the United Nations Trade and Development Commission estimates that countries without a diversified economy experience an average of forty to fifty per cent of leakage in the tourism industry. Leakage rates can even be as high as seventy per cent in countries that rely heavily on foreign investment to develop tourism infrastructure.  Currently, the amount of the State's economic leakage in the tourism industry is unknown.  Information about the State's economic leakage in the tourism industry can help policy makers develop strategies to strengthen and diversify the State's economy.

     The purpose of this Act is to require the department of business, economic development, and tourism to prepare a report that examines the severity of economic leakage in the State's tourism industry.

     SECTION 2.  The department of business, economic development, and tourism shall prepare a report examining the severity of economic leakage in the State's tourism industry.

     SECTION 3.  The department of business, economic development, and tourism shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2017.

     SECTION 4.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $         or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2016-2017 for the preparation of a report on the economic leakage in the State's tourism industry.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of business, economic development, and tourism for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2016.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Economic Leakage; Tourism; Report; Appropriation

 

Description:

Requires DBEDT to prepare a report examining the severity of economic leakage in Hawaii's tourism industry.  Makes an appropriation.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.