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Smokers Find Trouble in Paradise

By Dan Schlossberg
ConsumerAffairs.com

December 29, 2006

• Be a Traveler, Not a Target • Money Solutions for the Traveler • Travel News

The Hawaiian Islands, long regarded as a bastion of hospitality, is telling smokers their money is still welcome but not their habit.

For more than a month, the 50th state has prohibited smoking in restaurants, bars, malls, bowling alleys, airports, and even areas less than 20 feet from doorways and windows.

Officials label the new law as "clean environment" policy but it's strikingly similar to anti-smoking legislation passed in 13 states and hundreds of cities. In fact, it's stronger than most.

Since Smoke-Free Hawaii went into effect Nov. 16, hotels, restaurants, and other public places have deep-sixed ashtrays and put up warning signs -- some of them in Japanese as well as English. The Japanese tourist market, an essential element of the Hawaiian economy, could dwindle if smokers look elsewhere.

That's exactly what Hawaiian hotels, bars, and restaurants are worried about. On the other hand, similar concerns never materialized in New York, Los Angeles, and other destinations that draw many visitors from Asia.

Because Japan is the top foreign market for Hawaii, the state is working with Japanese travel agents and tour operators to inform the traveling public of the new laws.

Although Japanese smoking rates have dropped steadily, a recent survey suggests that nearly half of Japanese men still smoke. They won't find many places to smoke in Hawaii -- except in a small percentage of hotel rooms still reserved for smokers.

None of those rooms can be found in Westin hotels and resorts, which went totally smokefree earlier this year. Other chains are likely to follow suit in 2007.

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