Impact of Kona Airport On Hawaii Island
Prior to the 1970 airport expansion, tourism was centered on Hawaii's East side and more specifically the town of Hilo. Tourists wanting to go to the Kona side of the Island typically flew into Hilo's airport and drove across the island. As recently as 1968 Kona Village Resort didn't have road access let alone a large airport nearby. This lack of infrastructure was not tolerable, particularly after the completion of the Royal Kona Resort in 1968.
When the airport opened in 1970, it helped accelerate a shift of tourism from East Hawaii to West Hawaii. Tourism in Hilo had already taken a hit when a tsunami destroyed all seaside hotels in 1960.
The full extent of the airport's impact and shift in tourism can be seen in Hawaii Island Strategic Plan for 2006 to 2015. By 2005, the percentage of accommodations on the West side increased to 86% of the total. In 2005 just 4 modest hotels continued to serve the East side of Hawaii, with 3 of them dating back to the 1960s
The success of the Kona International Airport in drawing tourism to the West side of Hawaii has been a mixed blessing. Tourism has also helped fuel Hawaii County's overall population growth. Between 1990 and 2010 the population increased 48%.
Read more about this topic: Kona International Airport
Famous quotes containing the words impact of, impact, airport, hawaii and/or island:
“The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message.”
—Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)
“As in political revolutions, so in paradigm choice—there is no standard higher than the assent of the relevant community. To discover how scientific revolutions are effected, we shall therefore have to examine not only the impact of nature and of logic, but also the techniques of persuasive argumentation effective within the quite special groups that constitute the community of scientists.”
—Thomas S. Kuhn (b. 1922)
“It was like taking a beloved person to the airport and returning to an empty house. I miss the people. I miss the world.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“A fine-looking mill, but no machinery inside.”
—Hawaiian saying no. 1702, ‘lelo No’Eau, collected, translated, and annotated by Mary Kawena Pukui, Bishop Museum Press, Hawaii (1983)
“The very best place to be in all the world is St. Mary’s parish, Jamaica. And the best spot in St. Mary’s is Port Maria, though all of St. Mary’s is fine. Old Maker put himself to a lot of trouble to make that part of the island of Jamaica, for everything there is perfect.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)