If you’re a Maui lover and you’re wondering if it’s the right time to go, the Hawai’i Tourism Authority has an emphatic answer for you.
“Yes.”
I caught up with Kalani Ka’ana’ana, the authority’s chief brand officer, for an update on Maui tourism as he was boarding a plane on Wednesday.
There have been suggestions in some quarters that it’s too early to return to the island, which saw the town of Lahaina burned to cinders earlier this month. At least 115 people are confirmed dead, and the missing persons count could be as high as 1,100.
“I know it’s a sensitive topic, but I spent the last our days on the island,” Ka’ana’ana said in a telephone interview. “First and foremost, if you’re unable to travel to Maui at this time consider donating to the Hawai’i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund. There’s also a campaign being organized by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement called Kako’o (Support) Maui.”
“I think another (way to help) is really responsible, compassionate visitation right now. The rest of Maui (outside of Lahaina and the West Maui tourism spots from Ka’anapali north to Kahana, Napili and Kapalua) is completely safe. It’s open and eager to host guests again.
“We’ve seen visitors heed the call (to stay away) in the earliest days of the emergency,” he said. “The problem is that our visitors have heeded that call, but now it’s having an economic impact on the rest of the island.”
Ka’ana’ana said he spoke with rental car agency owners who reported that business is down 75%.
Forbes reports that the number of flight passenger arrivals on Maui has been reduced from an average of 7,000 per day to approximately 2,000.
That’s a huge loss on an island where roughly 70 to 80% of the GDP comes from tourism.
The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui and other resorts in the Wailea region are open to visitors. PHOTO COURTESY FAIRMONT KEA LANI
“We’ve already heard about layoffs because people aren’t travelling to other parts of the island, like Wailuku, Hana, Wailea and Makena,’ Ka’ana’ana said. “Respectful and compassionate and empathetic travel to other parts of Maui outside of Lahaina and Kaanapali and all that is exactly what we need right now.”
A high school friend of mine works at one of the largest resorts in Ka’anapali and offered some thoughts of her own.
“Tourists should come stay in South side/Wailea and please not complain how they had to change their vacation,” she told me in a Facebook message. “Over 1000 adults and children have not been found and identified. Please, Jim, we appreciate tourists, it is just a very excruciating painful time and having tourists not listen not to come over to the Westside go past police barriers to take pictures of the destruction has really made us locals very mad.
“Many of us will be losing our jobs soon, many will move off the island because (there will be) no jobs. This is a very stressful time.
“Write tourists to be respectful to our island limitations and tragedy.”
CBS News on Aug. 29 quoted a South Maui cafe owner as saying she’s probably lost three quarters of her business, even though she’s 25 miles from Lahaina.
Not everyone on the island is happy about visitors swimming in an ocean where people died trying to escape the fire. But Ka’ana’ana suggested they’re a minority.
Hana-Maui Resort is several hours from the devastasted city of Lahaina and is fully operational. JIM BYERS PHOTO
“There will always be a handful of people who say that. And they’re some of the loudest. They got to (actor) Jason Mamoa in the early days. And he echoed that call (to stay away) in the early days. But I think that many, many residents I’ve spoken to, including community leaders in Lahaina, recognize that delicate balance and are now starting to say they welcome respectful compassionate visitation to other parts of the island if we give the Lahaina community and West Maui time to grieve and bury their loved ones and find a new place to live.
“They understand that families in other parts of the island need to work.”
“The west side is devastated and Lahaina is closed off, but Maui is still open, and the No. 1 way to support Maui during the crisis is to come back. We need returning visitors and their smiling faces,” Javier Cantellops, a Maui tour operator and dive boat captain, recently told CBS MoneyWatch.
Another Maui resident said he understands concerns about tourists frolicking on the beach, but noted that he can’t donate to Maui charities if he doesn’t have an income.
Kalani Ka’ana’ana is Chief Brand Officer for the Hawai’i Tourism Authority.
The Maui Chamber of Commerce supports our visitor industry and local businesses,” the Chamber states in a message on its website. “We stand with our many business members and partners in saying that while Lahaina is closed due to the tragedy, we welcome you to visit the other beautiful areas of our island community.
“Please visit with Aloha, shop local, and respect the Westside during this crisis and time for much-needed healing. Please do not visit any restricted areas and follow any County of Maui restrictions. There are still many beautiful spots to see and amazing things to do.”
In a press conference on Aug. 21, Hawai’i Governor Josh Green made the following statement: “Right now I want to speak to the world when I say this: All of the other areas of Maui are safe and open. When you come you will support our local economy and help speed the recovery of the people who are suffering right now.”
Ka’ana’ana said supporting local businesses is a great way to help Maui residents.
“First off, we want to tell people to stay out of West Maui. We don’t need lookie-loos. We don’t need people going to Lahaina to try to see something. That’s the worst thing someone could do right now.
“But maybe they can go to a local restaurant or shop. Maybe they stay away from the big box stores right now. We love our Starbucks, but maybe visitors can go to a small café instead.”
Ka’ana’ana said the resort area of West Maui between Ka’anapali and Kapalua will remain closed by government decree until October 17. But many tourism workers are still employed in the region as local hotels hotels and resorts are being used as temporary housing for aid workers and displaced Lahaina residents.
A waterfall on the road to Hana, Maui. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Ka’ana’ana said he was on Maui for four days, from last Thursday to Monday. He was heading back when I spoke with him on the phone.
“The devastation is unimaginable. It felt surreal and unfathomable. It’s heavy. It’s visceral. You can feel it, and I can only imagine how those who lived through it and survived are processing all of that.
“Through that we’ve spent time with community leaders in Lahaina. I don’t where the fountain of hope and resilience they’re drawing on comes from, but it’s truly awe-inspiring. They’re some of the most organized, compassionate and empathetic individuals I’ve ever met.”
Ka’ana’ana said he has spoken to several first responders on Maui.
“One woman told me she’s been to 19 major disaster areas in her career and she’d never seen a community as organized as the people on Maui. Another one said that by the time he got on the ground he said, ‘I don’t know why I’m here. You folks have got this.’”
“That’s one piece of the story,” Ka’ana’ana told me. “I know there’s a lot more but that’s part of it.”
The numbers are out of date, but here’s a link to a personal story I wrote about Lahaina just after the fire. Two weeks later and I’m still filled with an aching sadness for an island and a people I dearly love.
Comments on this entry are closed.
i disagree.. i would not visit maui now and never again, because the locals don’t want you to.. i have loved the island for three + decades.. but the resentment is beyond colonization that has always been present
I fully understand your point of view. I wouldn’t mind going in a couple months, but I’d have to volunteer to help for at least a day or two. Mahalo for your input.
Speaking as a South Maui resident who has been on island for ten years, coming here as a tourist for over twenty years before that, volunteered on the west side, and spoken to other residents about their opinions every day, I can tell you that I 100% agree with this article. Please DO visit the other parts of Maui but DON’T go to the west side unless with an organized volunteer group. There’s only a small minority of locals who think the entire island should be closed to tourists. In fact, I have never directly spoken to anyone else who has that opinion.
No, it’s not time to visit Maui. Why don’t you listen to the people? They don’t want or need us there. They don’t need our tourism dollars and they don’t need us coming in using up all of the limited natural resources.
Leave Maui alone and let them heal. I think our government has done enough.
We will leave Maui for the emergency workers like Maui wants and just visit the big island instead this time … The locals don’t want people swimming in the ocean of Maui because it’s disrespectful of the people that died in the water so we don’t want to go to Maui if you’re only allowed to swim in the hotel pool . 🤙 🌴 .
I wanted to go over and help with clean up, provide comfort to victims, help catalog, document, etc and return items to their owners. My visit certainly wouldn’t be too looky loo. It would be to return the love and support that the people of Lahaina showed me when I was grieving a family loss years ago. I would help care for the elderly in shelters, offer anything I could do. I know that beauty will rise from these ashes and they will thrive like never before! My heart hurts on a level I can’t explain for them. They became my Ohana. If there are opportunities to do this, please let me know! You have my email!
I wanted to share my opinion on here as a Maui resident, but my comment was deleted?? Why? There’s nothing wrong with what I said ):
Sorry, what was your original comment?