Addicted to Airbnb: Hawaiʻi’s tourism economy depends on illegal vacation rentals

Tourist destinations like New York, Santa Monica, New Orleans and Barcelona have all imposed regulations on short-term rentals, the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice noted in a study published in November.

Still, the impact in Hawaii is in dispute. A March 2018 report by the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice estimated up to 93 percent of vacation rentals in the state were whole-home rentals, and most were rented out by non-residents.