Big Island Airbnb Operators Call for Economic Impact Study

The Hawai’i County Council is likely to move ahead with proposed short-term rental regulations while calling for an expanded study into the rules’ impact on the STR industry and operators on Big Island. “The study is meant to provide a clear and full picture of the island’s short-term rental industry.”

As Nathan Christophel reports in Big Island Now, “The council does want to know more about the ins and outs of short-term rentals, also called transient accommodation rentals, and on Wednesday adopted Resolution 556, tasking the Hawai‘i County Department of Research and Development to assess and analyze — with the help of a contracted economist — the industry’s fiscal effects.”

According to a June report, STRs accounted for lodging for 44 percent of Big Island visitors and contributed around $1.3 billion to the local economy. Meanwhile, “The Hawai‘i Housing Factbook published in June 2023 by the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization showed that 7.8% of the county’s 88,259 total housing units, or 6,847, were being used as short-term rentals.”

Local residents who operate STRs say the industry brings in income to all kinds of local businesses, from the people who clean the lodgings to local restaurants and boutiques.