According to a results of survey paid for by the Waikiki Improvement Association, approximately 76 percent of the 1,000 Hawaii residents interviewed across the state would support the building of a Waikiki entertainment center that would include live shows, movie theaters and a casino. The actual survey was conducted by the SMS Research & Marketing Services and has a margin of error of 3.1 percent.
President and CEO of the Waikiki Improvement Association, Rick Egged, stated, "We asked this question because there is clearly less entertainment to attract local people to Waikiki, especially at nighttime, than in the past. In the 1990s, there were more than a half dozen movie theaters, multiple shows that featured such well-known names as Don Ho, the Cazimero Brothers and more high quality places for music and dancing. Today, there are a few live shows and music places, but there is certainly not as many as in the past. Even all the movie theaters are now gone. All that has probably impacted our visits by local people."
Hawaii and Utah are the only two states in the country which has absolutely no form of legalized gambling. Chairman of the House Tourism Committee, State Representative Tom Brower, stated that lawmakers need to be open to discussing building a Waikiki Casino. Brower added that in order to compete with top Pacific tourism destinations which include Singapore, Macau and the Philippines, Hawaii has to consider gambling.
