eTN, May 21, 2008

The panic button in Hawaii tourism has been pressed. That button amounts to the tune of $3 million, which the Hawaii Tourism Authority calls “Emergency Tourism Fund.” Word that such a “fund” even existed circulated on Oahu, and with fuel prices skyrocketing, some were obviously not happy. Local residents are in a state of disbelief after word that such as thing called “Hawaii Tourism Emergency Fund” even existed. One local radio personality rambled about it on her morning show said: “What were they thinking? Maybe they should use that fund to help us little guys deal with the skyrocketing fuel prices, instead.” Considering that it wasn’t that long ago when Hawaii tourism officials proudly proclaimed that “Hawaii is full to capacity,” this year has been turning out to be a bad year for Hawaii tourism so far. Just in recent months, Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Pride of Hawaii has stopped sailing the islands and Pride of America is expected to follow suit.

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