Two years ago I was sitting in my back yard in Toronto when I got a text message from my sister. “So awful about the Maui and Lahaina fires,” she said. I had been busy and hadn’t been checking the news. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I was dumbfounded when I did a google search and saw the photos and read about the devastation of a town I’ve probably visited 100 times or more. It was a delightful, slightly rowdy, engaging, colourful and somewhat ramshackle town with fine food, engaging shops and an old-time feel Read more
visiting Maui
There’s a new action plan to boost Maui’s economy following the deadly August wildfires. The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority Board of Directors has furthered its ongoing commitment to mālama (care for) Maui and support the island’s recovery by approving an immediate six-month action plan for 2024 to help address major challenges confronting residents, small businesses, visitor industry providers, Maui’s economy, and families seeking housing. The action plan is designed to fulfill tourism’s responsibilities in alliance with the leadership established by Governor Josh Green, M.D. and within the broader scope of Maui’s recovery efforts being conducted by the State Department of Business, Read more
This month marks Give Back December in Hawaii. “Give Back December is a statewide visitor volunteer engagement campaign that brings together not just visitors, but residents, nonprofits, businesses and schools in a concerted effort to take grassroots volunteer action that serves our communities,” officials from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority said. “”We seek to grow visitor engagement opportunities this December by working with hundreds of local nonprofit organizations to host visitor-friendly volunteer events across the islands to support more authentic connections through service work. “Most events held during Give Back December have an environmental stewardship focus and can range from Read more
Petyr Beck has been on Maui for a day, but he’s still not hanging out at the beach or relaxing under a palm tree. Instead, he’s a mile or so from the coast, knee-deep in dry grass, hacking away at invasive trees in the hot sun of the Olowalu Valley. He slides a small saw back and forth several times, grabs a loose trunk of a haole koa tree and tosses it into a pile by the side of a dirt road. Then it’s on the next one. Beck is one of several volunteers who’ve showed up in the valley on a Read more
I wrote a story last week that quoted Hawaii tourism officials as saying it’s a good time to visit Maui. The gist of the article was that many areas of Maui are open to visitors (west Maui won’t open until October 15), and that local workers need tourism to return so they can keep their jobs. Many readers agree, but some still don’t like the idea of visitors so soon after the August 8 fire that killed at least 115 people and destroyed almost all of the beautiful town of Lahaina. Here are some sample comments: “We will leave Maui Read more
