Hawaii was named the fiftieth state of the United States August 21, 1959. Hawaii was considered "paradise". The state decided it would be a good idea to promote tourism. They believed it would help their economy. Instead it turned "paradise" into a very crowded state. Hawaii was named the Aloha State, because the word aloha stands for a greeting of hello, goodbye and also a wish for safe travel. This is how tourists were greeted when arriving by cruise ships and jet planes. Between the years 1946 and 1956 tourism was multiplied by at least eight. Numbers went from a mere 15,000 to 134,000 a year. By 1960 numbers reached 300,000 a year. In 1970 numbers increased to two million and in 1980 it was close to four million tourists. And the latest number in 1996 was six million people each year. In the 1970's tourism was considered the largest industry in the state of Hawaii.
Because the islands were considered such an excellent retreat, builders saw the opportunity for an economic boom. Hotels began to pop-up everywhere. Builders were in such competition one man created and furnished one-hundred room hotel in eighty-nine days. Souvenir shops, dance clubs, high traffic, market places, gaudy resorts and gourmet restaurants were created. Hawaii was really taken over by money hungry investors. After the boom the only remaining open land was 234 acres of Fort DeRussy. Natives felt pushed aside by developers who were creating tourist traps and development for wealthy mainland retirees. The natives were being taken advantage of because outsiders just "grabbed the best of everything". The Hawaiian Islands had for better or worse become part of the modern world. Greeting tourists with the phrase aloha became old. The natives no longer enjoyed hulas or luaus. They felt it was offensive to...