STAR ANNOUNCER
Jose Verde
State leaders should make it easier for Japanese tourists to enter Hawaii by creating a preclearance program that allows travelers from the country to save time at the Honolulu airport by completing immigration, customs and agricultural inspections before departure.
Gov. Josh Green and other state officials proposed the concept at a recent stop in Tokyo. Green hopes the program will help boost tourism to the islands, Hawaii News Now reported Tuesday.
Japan Tourism,
Hawaii’s main tourism market has been slowing since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hawaii is keen to bring in more travelers from Japan because “it’s the tourists who know how to behave in Hawaii and how to take care of our aina and so on,” said Green, the Hawaiian word for land.
A preclearance program, discussed for many years, could open direct routes to other islands, Maui added, Green said.
Shortly after a fatal wildfire destroyed much of the town of Lahaina, west of Maui, the Japanese government donated $2 million in humanitarian aid.
House Speaker Scott Saiki, who accompanied Green on the trip, said the Japanese were involved in the formulation of the program and how it would be implemented and enforced.
Green said he would ask Hawaii’s congressional delegation to make the program possible.
Have comments? Learn more here.
Click here for our full information on the coronavirus outbreak. Submit your coronavirus news.
Return to start