HAWAIʻI TOURISM AUTHORITY / BEN ONO
Friends gather for a meal in Kīhei .
It was , by every account , a horrific tragedy — so talking about tourism to Maui in its wake might almost seem inappropriate .
But Kainoa Daines , senior director of destination education at the Hawai ‘ i Visitors & Convention Bureau , said it ’ s the exact opposite . He wants people to know that the island of Maui is open to visitors . “ Come to Maui ,” he said , “ but please travel with a sense of responsibility — a sense of respect .”
Initially , the state announced that Maui was closed , and travelers wanting to do the right thing stayed away . An unintended consequence was that tourism to the entire island dropped so precipitously that some people who lost family members and homes also lost their jobs .
Daines said the best way to help the island is to return .
Open for Business Lahaina , of course , remains closed . But Maui ’ s North Shore ( Pā ‘ ia ) and South Maui ( Kīhei , Wailea and Mākena ) are open and ready for visitors . Even remote Hāna , which traditionally takes in fewer visitors , is welcoming some travelers .
Ken Kimi is Hawai ‘ i chapter president of the American Society of Travel Advisors and owner of A Touch Above Travel Services . He said travel advisors should verify that a property is accepting reservations because so many of them are housing displaced families , employees and first responders . The same with tour operators . “ You need to do your due diligence and make sure they ’ re open , like snorkel tours and diving . We cannot just assume the things we used to book are there and operational ,” he said .
As of early October , some hotels in Kapalua , Nāpili and Kā ‘ anapali , where displaced families and responders are being hosted , have officially reopened .
He added there are likely to be more airline seats available because not as many people are flying . “ However , there was a report about all the cars that are stored off the airport , like 18,000 out of the inventory of 24,000 ,” he said . “ The car companies are looking at selling and / or shipping cars to other locations because just like with COVID-19 , they took a big loss having cars just sitting around . We saw this right after COVID — when the demand picked up , there were no cars available . We may see something like that again , so lastminute trips could become problematic for car rentals .”
Paula Takamori , owner of Hawai ‘ i-based agency Travel to Paradise , said that unfortunately airlines have temporarily canceled some of the long-haul flights in and out of Maui “ because there aren ’ t enough people to get on them right now . You know , it takes a lot of people to fill a Dreamliner .”
She ’ s booked people to Maui since the fire , though , who ’ ve had a great trip . “ I just suggest people go down to Wailea and South Kīhei because they need you to come ,” she said .
Maui hula master and Hawaiian cultural and language specialist Hōkūlani Holt wants visitors to know they may
HAWAIʻI TOURISM AUTHORITY / TOMMY LUNDBERG
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