Research Paper on Tourism in Hawaii

Introduction

The secondary focus of the study is to determine the impact of Chinese tourism in Hawaii and the resident's attitudes towards the effects it imposes on the economic, ecological and socio-cultural environment. The findings of the study from the residents prove that tourism plays a significant role culturally and economically. As a result, the country has deeply embarked on the development of tourism considering it a major industry. The focus of the essay is to define tourism in the USA and come up with clear information on issues affecting Chinese tourism in Hawaii specifically in language and cultural differences.

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The Magnitude of Tourism in Hawaii

Tourism remains the largest industry in the world is the top earner of foreign exchange and a leading source of employment within Hawaii. The country has a year-round tropical climate, comfortable atmosphere and cultural experiences making it one of the world's best tourist destinations attracting over 10 million tourists annually (Agrusa et al, 2011). Coastal and marine tourism remain the major sectors within the industry making it an even more popular destination. The country is comprised of eight islands with six of them being renowned as the leading destinations for tourists. The landscape is made up of majestic mountains, sandy beaches and much more.

The state of the economy is mainly dependent on tourism in that it is more profound, broader and likely to last longer compared to other industries within the country (Agrusa et al, 2011). Earlier research conducted on the subject proves that it accounts for a quarter of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and one-third of jobs available for the local people.

Current Situation of Tourism Hawaii

According to Chan, (2006) tourism in Hawaii has increased by 14.2% in the last two years which is a beneficial boost to the economy of Hawaii. However although the industry plays a major role within the economy, it imposes great effects to the native Hawaiians. Even though the sector is in its fruitful periods the local people and society face many harmful impacts including cultural destruction, poverty and environmental hazards emanating from the pollution the environment is exposed to.

As a result, local attitudes towards the industry tend to vary depending on the effects society is exposed to making it underappreciated by many (Chan, 2006). Residents often view tourists as competitors for the limited resources and identify with negative impacts the industry causes including congestion and an increase in the cost of living within the society. However, the study proves that despite its negativity every regional economy is dependent on it to make a living hence making it hard to come up with a better export driver compared to tourism. The industry is in itself clean in that; it enhances history, culture and local tradition. Also, jobs made available by tourism cannot be outsourced hence the need to uphold competition and maintain the industry despite its negativities.

Chinese Tourism in Hawaii

According to Nyiri, (2006) Chinese tourists are flocking in Hawaii compared to other tourists and contribute a significant amount to the economy. The arrival of Chinese visitors has increased by more than 30% since early 2014 and is making vast contributions to the state of the economy. Horner & Swarbrooke, (2016) state that the number of other international travelers into Hawaii decreased largely by 2.0 percent within the same period. However despite the growing Chinese tourism is still a new and developing market to the people of Hawaii (Nyiri, 2006).

Being an emerging market, research proves that the people of Hawaii are barely prepared for it culturally, temperamentally and linguistically compared to the Japanese and American tourists they are used to catering for. Despite the existing differences, the traveling and spending habits of the Chinese tourists are partially similar to those of the other local and international visitors to the country.

Japanese Tourism Compared to Chinese Tourism

When the Japanese first started coming to Hawaii, they were partially similar to Chinese tourists visiting Hawaii currently. Their spending was twice the current state and carried a lot of money enabling retail purchases to take preference over the destination. According to Horner & Swarbrooke, (2016) same as the Chinese tourists, they exhibited little awareness and knowledge concerning the destination. Their arrival however altered the landscape largely as bars and restaurants shifted to luxury stores and signs everywhere in Japanese.

The Chinese now occupy the dubious role that was once played by mainland Japanese visitors who love traveling in tour packs to Hawaii during the dawn of the "Jet age" taking pictures of anything they saw. With the increasing number of visitors, the locals were also affected as visitors filled up their neighborhoods, local beaches, hiking trails, and farmers markets. Similar to the Chinese, the Japanese used guidebooks and maps to discover local restaurants and shops and experience the lifestyle of the locals searching for an authentic tour experience (Jin & Wang, 2016).

However, over time the Chinese are expected to follow the same evolution trail as the Japanese and the mainland tourists before them. Eventually, they are expected to learn to shop around and become more cautious about their spending. Both markets exhibit a similar level of similarity in most aspects hence the idea that the market will soon experience a similar downfall identical to that of the American mainlanders and the Japanese tourism markets.

Cultural Differences

According to Jin & Wang, (2016) cultural values greatly influence behavior. However little research has been carried out regarding the link that exists between the expectations and preferences of the Chinese people as consumers within the tourism industry even though they remain the market with the greatest butting potential compared to already existing markets within the tourism industry. As a result, cultural values have had several implications on tourism and travel marketing. They include:

Change in Naturally Available Cultural Resources

Hawaiians rely on naturally existing cultural resources for their livelihood such as subsistence activities. Some of the changes include effects on the quality, abundance, and access by locals to things such as fish, marine resources and native plants (Agrusa et al, 2011). Most of the changes exist because of modernization and growth in the general population resulting from tourist activity within the area. The industry has additional effects of urbanizing locally existing coastal areas where many locals practiced ocean-based cultural lifestyles.

Change in the Quality and Conditions of Culturally Used Areas Where Historical and Cultural Sites Are Located

Most of the sites visited by tourists are associated with historical figures and deities acting as holy shrines for the local people to connect with spiritual forces they believe to exist in them. Similar to other changes this is also associated with the increase in economic activities brought about by modernization and population growth because of tourism. Tourism activity has also significantly affected holy coastal areas where many Hawaiians practiced their ocean-based culture.

The Disruption of Sacred Sites and Places of High Value Within the Community

Although sacred places enjoy protection by legal rights, the laws are not entirely effective enough to safeguard the sites, thus making resort development a prevalent issue within the area.

Loss of Sense of Place by the Local Communities as Places That Were Once Sacred to Them Now Feel Alien

Loss of sense of place is often inspired by immigration and population growth. However, in the case of the tourism industry in Hawaii, most entrepreneurs aim at providing an environment that is more familiar to the visitors and not the local people (Agrusa et al, 2011), thus leading to the transformation of the coastal areas displacing interior Hawaiian communities from the "last Hawaiian places.

Negative Effects of Cultural Differences on Tourism

It Leads to Cultural Erosion

The growth in the number of Chinese tourists and the increase in demand for products from the local communities has caused the craftsmen and the community to lose value in ancestral beliefs. Thus the traditional craftsmen and the community elaborates products by quantity not quality and level of sanctity. As a result, artifacts, sites, and beliefs of the local communities are degraded in value and level of faith leading to the erosion of their culture.

Cultural Transformation

Through the utilization of art for commodities for sale as superficial items to the tourists, the local communities exploit their culture leading to the culture losing its roots in terms of cultural heritage.

Cultural Hostility

Due to cultural differences between the Chinese and the locals of Hawaii, the local communities are at time reluctant and opposive leading to hostility (Chan, 2006). Often time's hostility between the two is due to the simple reason that tourism could erode the traditional methods of economies and way of life by creating a dependency on jobs with poor pay by the tourists.

Cultural Heritage Rights Violation

The Hawaiian community has exposed it culture and treated it as commercializing merchandise, thus violating its cultural heritage rights with the aim of increasing the market for their products.

Cultural Displacement

The Hawaiian community has been exposed to random and temporary changes in culture mainly in language, ways of dressing and traditions (Chan, 2006). Cultural displacements can be temporary which is often defined by the contrast exhibited between the host and the tourist.

Effects of Language Differences on Tourism in Hawaii

The tourism industry faces some challenges within various markets. Some of the significant difficulties include language which is one of the major barriers to communicating (Nyiri, 2006). Language differences often result in non-verbal and verbal communication styles within the community and the visitors.

Language is categorized into verbal and non-verbal cues which act as the indicators of how much the tourism sectors has affected the communities way of communicating. In the case of Hawaii, both cultures including the Chinese culture are expected to be altered in their mode of conveying facial expressions. For example, smiling in Hawaii indicates that one is being friendly and approachable, however, within Chinese culture it's seen as an inappropriate expression. The community faces erosion as they try to comply with the preferences of the tourists.

Language differences have also resulted in the existence of context within the emerging culture. Often this is determined through the way people communicate with each other. In this case, the Hawaiian setting exists in both categories depending on the tourism market. According to Nyiri, (2006) the Chinese and the Hawaiian community exhibit a high context culture whereby they have to explain everything to them assuming that they have no information concerning the topic. On the other hand, they exhibit a low context culture with the already existing markets such as the Japanese, Americans and the locals whereby they assume that the people are well informed on the culture hence they don't have to explain everything to them.

Research Methodology

Given the exploratory nature depicted by the study, the grounded theory was utilized in data analysis and collection. The baseline survey involved the research regarding the impact of tourism in Hawaii. Qualitative Interviews were conducted on both the Chinese touri...