Kahau Hole, 28, succeeded in establishing a tourism project that generates thousands of dollars annually by setting up a tourist tent in Hawaii in 2014, 10 minutes from an area with active volcanoes.
Hall’s motivation for launching this project was that she grew up in that area and was used to seeing lava from her balcony.
The 20-year-old spent less than $300 on setting up the tent in 2014, while she spent about $8,000 on amenities.
This project requires Hall 10 to 15 hours of work per week, yet generates annual revenues of $28,000.
Those gains make sense for the popular tourist area, with total tourist spending on all Hawaiian islands at $17.75 billion in 2019.
A night in a Hole tent costs $70, and she has an average of three bookings a week.
But things did not go this positive way when the Corona pandemic broke out and Hawaii required a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers.
With these restrictions, Hall’s business was disrupted, as she did not receive any reservations for 6 months, and consequently lost most of her source of income.
But things started to improve again early last year as customers booked month-long stays and many people started working remotely.
The 28-year-old now plans to open three or four tents in the next two to three years.
The main obstacle she now faces, Hall noted, is competition. She described the Hawaiian tourism industry as so fierce that when people see a good idea they often take steps to copy it.