Big Change for Tourism in Hawaii - The Crackdown on Illegal Vacation Rentals Begins

It is going to be more difficult to come to Hawaii on a budget as the City and County of Honolulu began the first crackdown on Illegal vacation rentals. If fined the owners have seven days to correct the violation, requiring them to remove the ad, or risk an initial fine of $1,000 and subsequent daily fines of up to $10,000. The stiff penalties have caused many to pull their ads of platforms such as Airbnb.

Right now this only effects the island of Oahu but it is only a matter of time before it hits the other islands. It is obvious what is at play here and that is that the government wants to not only drive business to the Hotel industry but also limit the amount of "bargain" hunting tourists who spend less per capita.

It will remain to be seen how this will effect the Hawaii economy.