08/17/2023
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: LET'S HELP MAUI
Maui Recovery & Hawai'i's Tourism Economy:
Repost from Mufi Hannemann, former mayor of the City & County of Honolulu, is the head of the Hawai‘i Lodging & Tourism Association, the state’s largest private sector visitor industry organization.
It has been a week now since the wild fires on Maui devastated Lahaina and shut down the west side of the island. Since the onset of the conflagrations we have seen an immense outpouring of support from our local community members, business organizations, and offshore friends who have given donations, energy, and resources to those that have lost their homes, businesses, and loved ones. During this time, our local and national governments have been successful in evacuating both our local residents and visitors from the affected areas and are now relocating many to temporary housing in hotels, vacation rentals, and houses while they sweep through Lahaina.
Amidst the recovery of West Maui, we have seen mix messaging out in national and international publications that urge visitors to stay away from Hawai'i during this time. As a result, we have seen heavy cancellations in travel, hotel, and activity reservations which has had an adverse effect on local businesses and the thousands of residents that are employed by the visitor industry. To refute this notion, I have gone on record throughout the week in both meetings and through media interviews to state that while visitors must stay out of West Maui at all costs, the rest of Maui and Hawai'i is not closed off to visitors. Yesterday afternoon, I issued the following statement to the press:
