Both of Parker’s parents worked in the tourism industry — her mother worked at hotels and her father worked for airlines. Growing up, she said she always felt uneasy about Hawaiian tourism, but her parents taught her to be grateful because that money kept food on the table. As an adult, she said she is no longer choosing gratitude.

“Our culture has been prostituted for way too long,” Parker said. “They use our culture to draw tourism. You see it all over the advertisements, the hula dancers, the beach, you know, the grass skirts, the coconut bras, none of that is real. It’s this made-up fantasy that they’re selling people about Hawai’i and it’s wrong. They’re making all their money off of this culture that they’re selling. That is the indigenous culture of our place, but they’re not taking care of the people that have provided this culture. They’re basically using us and not taking care of us.”

She said she feels imprisoned by the tourism system.

“The working class has to go to work and serve these tourists,” she said.

When travel reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic, more American travelers began to visit Hawai’i, many of whom had never visited the islands and lacked respect for the culture.

“So, we were getting a lot of like bad tourists — tourists that were coming here and just like doing whatever they want,” she said.

Statehood-Day

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