Current:Home > StocksHawaii’s governor wants to make it easier for travelers from Japan to visit the islands-LoTradeCoin
Hawaii’s governor wants to make it easier for travelers from Japan to visit the islands
View Date:2024-12-23 19:19:08
HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii leaders want to make it easier for tourists from Japan to visit the U.S. state by creating a pre-clearance program allowing 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 idea during a recent visit to Tokyo. Green hopes the program will help boost tourism to the islands, Hawaii News Now reported Tuesday.
Tourism from Japan, Hawaii’s top international visitor market, has been sluggish since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hawaii is keen on bringing more travelers from Japan back because “that’s the tourist that knows how to carry themselves in Hawaii and how to care for our aina and so on,” Green said, using the Hawaiian word for land.
A pre-clearance program, which has been discussed for many years, could open direct routes to other islands, including Maui, Green said.
Soon after a deadly wildfire wiped out much of the west Maui town of Lahaina, the Japanese government donated $2 million in humanitarian aid.
State House Speaker Scott Saiki, who joined Green on the trip, said Japan officials were concerned about how much the program would cost and how it would be implemented and enforced.
Green said he will ask Hawaii’s delegation in U.S. Congress to help make the program possible.
veryGood! (7421)
Related
- Fantasy football waiver wire: 10 players to add for NFL Week 11
- Trump's appeal of gag order in hush money case dismissed by New York's highest court
- How the Titanic Submersible Voyage Ended in Complete Tragedy
- A journalist traces his family tree back to ancestor who served in Black regiment in Civil War
- Bill on school bathroom use by transgender students clears Ohio Legislature, heads to governor
- 2024 NBA free agency guide: Key dates, terms and top free agents this season
- Here's how to keep cool and stay safe during this week's heat wave hitting millions
- Run, Don’t Walk to Lands’ End for 50% Off Swimwear & 40% Off Everything Else for a Limited Time Only
- Dallas Long, who won 2 Olympic medals while dominating the shot put in the 1960s, has died at 84
- How the Titanic Submersible Voyage Ended in Complete Tragedy
Ranking
- Kennesaw State football coach Brian Bohannon steps down after 10 seasons amid first year in FBS
- Aaron Judge, Yankees avoid catastrophic injury after slugger hit in hand by pitch
- Florida plastic surgeon charged in wife's death after procedure at his office
- Unloaded weapons don’t violate North Carolina safe gun storage law, appeals court says
- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had mild stroke this month, team says
- Los Angeles school district bans use of cellphones, social media by students
- Girl found slain after missing 8th grade graduation; boyfriend charged
- Billy Ray Cyrus Accuses Ex Firerose of Conducting Campaign to Isolate Him From Family
Recommendation
-
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson weighs in on report that he would 'pee in a bottle' on set
-
Texas politician accused of creating Facebook profile to send himself hate messages
-
2024 College World Series highlights: Tennessee rolls past Florida State, advances to CWS final
-
Affordable homes under $200,000 are still out there: These markets have the most in the US
-
Judge recuses himself in Arizona fake elector case after urging response to attacks on Kamala Harris
-
How New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole fared in his 2024 debut
-
Russian state media say jailed U.S. soldier Gordon Black pleads partially guilty to theft charge
-
Florida medical marijuana patients get an unexpected email praising DeSantis