Here's Why It's So Hard To Reshape Hawaii's Tourism Industry - Honolulu Civil Beat Policymakers fear jeopardizing the industry’s recovery from the pandemic because Hawaii needs the jobs back. Reading time: 8 minutes. As recently as early 2020, before COVID-19 wrecked the state’s economy, Hawaii was grappling with a problem much different from today’s economic challenges. The question then was what to do about ever-growing hordes of tourists. The 250,000 visitors in Hawaii each day equaled nearly a fifth of the state’s population. And residents’ attitudes toward them were plummeting, as visitors took over beaches, hiking trails and homes in neighborhoods that had become meccas for vacation rentals.