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In February of 1994, a group of Native Hawaiian activists staged a protest in Waikiki. They handed out pamphlets to tourists and held signs along the road by the zoo and Kapiolani Park.

They told tourists, very plainly, to go home.

It seemed like such a bold, even shocking display of rebellion. Sure, just about everyone in Hawaii grumbled about tourists, but to make signs and pamphlets, to hold press conferences and to flat-out walk up to tourists in Waikiki and say, “Go home. Don’t come back,” seemed so dramatic, like something long-simmering had boiled over.

I remember covering that story as a reporter, standing on the side of the road to interview the protesters and thinking to myself, “Wow, never did I think I’d see this in my lifetime. Never did I think it would come to this.”

Did anyone leave when they were asked to? Probably not. But it was dramatic anyway.

So now Hawaii’s governor is telling tourists to stay away.

Not quite as dramatic. Not quite as emphatic. And completely toothless without any sort of new travel restrictions.

When Gov. David Ige said tourists should not to come to Hawaii, he more than pulled his punches. He made it merely a suggestion.

“It is a risky time to be traveling right now. I did ask everyone, residents and visitors alike to reduce travel to Hawaii to essential business activities only. We do know that it is not a good time to travel to the islands. Restaurant capacity has been restricted. There is limited access to rental cars, and we know that the visitors who choose to come to the islands will not have the typical kind of holiday that they expect to get when they visit Hawaii. So, once again, I encourage everyone to restrict and curtail travel to Hawaii, residents and visitors alike. It’s not a good time to travel to the islands.”

That’s Hawaii’s governor: quiet and ineffective.

It got squishier the more he talked about it. Ige said he was “working with airlines and hotels to spread the word” and that he had “asked them to do whatever they could to reduce travel here to the islands.”

“Certainly, I am fully aware that all the airlines continue to struggle. There was general understanding of what the healthcare situation is in our islands and certainly there was an acknowledgement that it is a difficult time here in the state and they did express support for helping in the ways that they can to deliver the message that it’s not a good time to visit the islands,” he said.

As summer moves into fall, the number of tourists coming to Hawaii has dropped off a bit, but is still around 30,000 passengers a day. That’s a number that is palpable on the roads, in the stores, on the beaches.

The thing is, state officials keep saying that the huge number of Covid-19 cases now in Hawaii are not attributable to all those tourists. Rather, the blame rests on Hawaii residents who travel out of state, come home infected and spread Covid around their social circles, as though Hawaii residents are somehow able to slip their virus-ridden selves past the Safe Travels protocols that catch only infected tourists.

So why tell the tourists to stay home?

Some reasons given were that restaurants have restrictions on seating capacity and rental cars are still hard to come by, so the vacation experience will not be as deluxe. Also, because Hawaii hospitals are struggling to take care of so many Covid patients, just reducing the number of people on island who might need medical attention decreases the burden on health care systems.

But one reason to suggest tourists stay home is, of course, optics.

Hawaii residents have been ticked off for months watching boorish tourists crawl all over the islands having a wonderful time while those who live here are told to avoid parties, don’t kiss Aunty, don’t sit with the other parents to watch the baseball game. The feelings of inequity have reached trauma level.

There’s also the advantage of appearing to do something without having to actually do anything. Saying “Stay home” is not the same as brokering deals with airlines and hotels or coming down hard with some sort of ban. It’s all for show.

Still, though, soft-served as it was, Ige’s request to curtail tourism was significant. The governor of the state of Hawaii went on the record asking tourists not to come to the islands, not because of a lockdown, but just, you know, to give us a break. Did you ever think you’d see that in your lifetime? Did you ever think it would come to this?