Maui County and Hawaiian Airlines have released the first of multiple videos designed to instruct Maui visitors on appropriate behavior, aloha, and respect.
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130 thoughts on “Are Videos Needed to Instruct Maui Visitors On Aloha?”
I agree with your assessment that the overwhelming majority visiting Maui aren’t rubes and disrespectful people . It’s probably time to end the hand wringing and get back to the business of tourism before the 20 million shortfall becomes 200 million . The tragedy is apparent to everyone but survivors won’t be helped if they remain laid off or jobless .
Hi boys, glad to hear that the resort hidden cost are being addressed, truly “bait and switch”.
I watched the “pono” videos, they seem to be common sense for any visitor, are there videos on Maui TV on how they should treat tourists now? A little more Aloha, a little less haoles go home.
To all tourists;
Be kind, be respectful (pono)
Live Aloha (smile, be patient, let a car in ahead of you, hold a door for someone, say Mahalo.
Agree, Jim! Respect goes both ways. So easy to be kind.
If you’re sensitive this may get your feelings hurt, please do not continue to read this post.
Ok Hawaii is we are all sorry for your loss but it’s time to pull your pants on and start acting as an adult. If you do not do this soon the pull up you Huggies and continue to act as a child. People are starting to see that as other people in the American you are not capable of making decisions and actions as a responsible adult. Many people today will continue to act as sheep. At the end of the day it’s your decision.
I’ve never read something so callous, and so tone deaf in my life and believe me, in today’s climate, callousness and tone deafness seem to be the norm in certain segments of the American population.
I spent two weeks in southern,Italy; ; I felt respected,;it was genuine hospitality. I felt safe and protected,young people were kind and intelligent.
Hawaii has been my home since 1975;but on return I experienced aggression,rudeness,,and I don’t feel as safe as I did in Italy,especially as a senior ..It’s very sad ,for all the emphasis on aloha; I feel Hawaii has become the epitome of American Entitlement
So when Hawaiian residents visit Las Vegas for vacation, do they stay in locally owned lodging, gamble in locally owned casinos, eat at local farmers markets, shop at and purchase locally made souvenirs, volunteer and help the original residents of the area? The answer would be no!
Practice what you preach.
Maui and Las Vegas are two totally different places. Maui is small with a deep rooted culture and tight knit community. Regardless, I still wouldn’t go visit Vegas right after part of it burned down.
If this donation is embedded into your room rate then the state of Hawaii can tax it by 10.75 percent as well as the Hawaii transient tax of 4.75 percent so in reality you will be taxed 15.50 percent total when it’s done. Sorry forgot the Maui state sales tax of 4 percent. Sounds like a way for the state to tax your contribution in which the hotel donates in their behalf..
With all the victims being evicted from hotels wouldn’t a better video be to inform travelers how to deal with “Hey sir, mam, You got an extra 10,20,or 50 you can spare senerio every so many feet from any open restaurant or hotel entrance. With hotels making room for tourists this problem has to exponentially get worse? Wait maybe this is where the aloha spirit now is alive.
Don: With all due respect, I don’t believe anyone is being evicted from anywhere. True they are being moved out of Hotels so that they can have a more liveable space (think cooking, washer/dryer), but no one is being moved to make room for a revenue guest.
Fire victims apparently really are being evicted. We are going Oct. 19-31 and the cake I got from the resort front desk confirming our arrival also talked about losing her living quarters at the end of the month.
hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/10/04/state-investigates-one-largest-hotel-condos-thats-housing-maui-fire-evacuees/
Diana B: The fire victims are being moved to more liveable quarters – think kitchens, laundry, etc. They won’t be homeless.
At the end of the article you posted, it says no one is being evicted.
The article you posted says that they aren’t being evicted yet. The board extended the maximum stay length so that they can stay until Dec 1st. What troubles me more is the attitude of some of the owners who don’t want any “refugees” in the building. So much for Maui Strong and Aloha.
Joerg…. I don’t think it’s fair to take the supposed actions of a few and think that paints the whole picture….incredibly difficult situation with many people in many different circumstances and beliefs, exasperated by social media altering reality on a daily basis at the expense of the most vulnerable. Nobody is being denied help and I’m personally aware of Lahaina victims being very well taken care of…given the circumstances of course. There is a long road ahead that can’t be traveled without the return of tourism.
That would be the final straw for me! I have visited Hawaii annually for over 25 years and have invested quite a few $$$$ there. Because I love it and am Always respectful wherever I travel. You are correct; those of us who do not need to be talked down to in that way will find it annoying and I for one will resent it. Those who need to hear it are not listening. It will change nothing. Hawaii made the conscious decision to be totally reliant on tourism. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you or find other ways to support your state.
Just got an email from Costco selling “Maui vacations with Aloha”
Imagine the nerve of them telling me to have Aloha!…..(that was sarcasm)
Hi John.
You made us smile (again).
Aloha.
It is absolutely infuriating that people think we need instructional videos on how to act and be respectful. We always have been and always will be respectful. Those that are obnoxious will not be changed by these videos. One of my favorite references in a recent news article referred to the “rich white tourists.” Now that is exceptionally disrespectful! We are not rich. My husband and I have worked very hard to save for these trips to Hawaii because we loved experiencing the culture and the beauty. If that’s how we are to be treated then maybe another destination might welcome us more. We have donated in several ways to various Maui funds to help support. But that’s how we are to be treated? Rich white tourists that need education?
“Our sense is that visitors to Hawaii are already largely very respectful. And as for those that are not, they will not be changed by these videos.”
This statement says it all. It is so sad that there are so many who will not be changed by these videos. And it’s those people we hear so much about and that make others wonder about the treatment of visitors to the Islands.
The videos are a good reminder to us all about what aloha is all about.
Glenda, your point about most tourists don’t need it is very true. But as social media has proven, it doesn’t take many to drive the ship….the haters have a much larger voice then they should, I believe the vast majority don’t need or mind seeing these videos.
Wow, you thin skinned folks are missing the obvious with your self righteous “I don’t need to be told how to act” comments……good for you, but there has been some pretty rude and disrespectful behavior by some. Otherwise no one would have ever thought these videos were needed. Tough times for all but the last thing Maui needs are tourists that act like some of the self righteous angry “anti Hawaiian” folks that are posting here. Will the video’s work? I’m not so sure but if keeps a few of the angry chip on their shoulder crowd away they are helping.
I am anything but “anti Hawaiian”. Over the years I have observed tourists totally ignoring rules, encroaching on sealife, taking stupid selfies where they can get hurt, total disrespect at Pearl Harbor, etc. These videos will Not speak to them. They are selfish, self entitled people and this video will not change that. They will not be offended like those who have spent many years loving and supporting these islands. They will find it amusing and continue to do as they please. I think Hawaii needs to decide whether it wants tourists or not because you cannot just accept “good” tourists. It doesn’t work that way.
I think the videos are a waste of time. There are people in this world who treat everyone with respect and kindness, and then there are the types, like the ones who get out of their cars in Yellowstone and try to take close up pictures of wildlife, that dont get it and never will. They dont know how to act with resepect and decency and a bunch of videos are going to knock that into their clueless brains.
The Hawaiian Air video is excellent….nothing wrong with their sharing some local perspective……It’s no different then if you know someone that lives in a place you are visiting, whether it be Hawaii, Australia, Europe wherever, it’s nice to get this kind of insider information upon arrival.
If a person has to be reminded of the need to act in a kindly, compassionately, responsible & gracious manner, they lack basic morals. I’d like to think that type of tourist is in the minority. Pretty sad to think its beginning to be “locals” vs tourists. I’ve never been treated with anything but kindness in my 30 yrs of visiting Maui.
I think it’s a good idea!
It would be informative for everyone, just in case people aren’t sure of what is exactly expected of them. And shame on the visitors who don’t follow the expectations.
Great little videos,
Maui must truly slow with tourism right now.
If this continues, I’m sure some things ie businesses will have to shut down shut down.
That being said it’s time for the people that have businesses and understand how tourism affects their community to been together and put it put a stop to the negative person on the island want to band tourism all together.
You can’t have all the wonderful local shops without tourist dollars coming in and supporting the businesses and the local community.
This is a prime time for Maui to decide what they want their future to be.
Unfortunately, with these constant reminder messages I have become jaded. Here’s my how I interpret the messages from Maui:
Maui Strong= oxymoron
Show Respect= don’t speak unless spoken to first and make yourself invisible as some may take offense that you’re there
Aloha= open your pocketbook
Of course there are the idiots who are insensitive to the traumatic events of August 8 and need to told how to act, but I’m not convinced that the videos will do more good than harm.
I noticed three video’s showed Hawaiian Airlines at the upper left corner. I read where this airline’s profit support local Hawaiians. I think they forgot something. Please don’t waste our water. Don’t flush our toilets and leave us with your waste. Please container it and dispose of it after leaving our islands. Not only do they tell us how to act but how and where to spend your money. Thank you for luring me in to all the tourists traps. Maybe Hawaii wants tourist to act with Aloha spirit because then the locals don’t have to. By the way real Hawaiians eat at Aunties House not where tourist’s go.
All those messages are good and appropriate. Who can criticize gentle reminders that West Maui and Kula were scenes of a monumental disaster and as we are privileged to return, we do so with respect and according to the best plans available at this time. Aloha.
Sad to think that the Hawaiian gov’t believes it is necessary to advise visitors on behavior. Seems to me that the continued contemplation of visitor fees, tourist parking charges, and other “US vs you” policies sends a very clear message to potential visitors. I’m thinking all of these ideas are really intended to make locals feel more accepting of the traffic and other inconveniences asso iated with being a vacation destination.
I’m beginning to see the intent behind the county’s missive regarding treading lightly around locals….this is a distraction by the mayor and his cronies from their mismanagement of the response to the inferno that consumed Lahaina. What better way to deflect attention from their incompetence than to infer that some tourists behave in a way that might offend the sensibilities of a minority of locals. Now, they have what they want…arguments pitting the interest of some locals against the people that support Maui’s economy. Shortsighted, at best.
100% Poor governments always find a way to deflect blame for the horrible mismanagement of Fire and Water resources and other damaging decisions(green?!?)..
All you have to do is read the comments to know education is needed. Many of the offenders are those that believe because they’ve been to Maui that they don’t need to be told how to behave. It amazes me the lack of empathy. It is assumed locals don’t understand or are unfriendly towards tourism without reason? Tourism brings money and while that should benefit the community, it does not. The truth is that much of the money brought in from tourism goes to out if state corps and investors, is used for needs on Oahu, or is squandered away by our politicians. Overtourism is destroying the land and quality of life for locals. This very tragedy was caused by the greed and negligence of our local govt that places tourism above residents.
I agree, it’s sad to read the level of entitlement in these comments. I was born and raised in the islands, daughter of parents who moved to Hawaii in 1959, mom a public school teacher for over 30 years and dad a mechanic, first for the airlines and then over 20 years in the Dole cannery. After college always wanted to return but jobs and life have kept me on the mainland.
I and my family visit as often as we can, continuing after my parents passed on. Even with my deep connection to my forever home of my heart and soul, I still realize that I am now a grateful visitor, lucky to have been raised there but still need to respect and learn. And be humble.
Aloha
Yes, education is needed, especially among locals who seem to be regurgitating unreliable discussion about tourism dollar benefit on local life.
The positive effect is far reaching, not only from employment at the hotels, but touching every other locally-owned business as well, from grocery stores and drug stores to restaurants, retail shops, property management companies who employ local office workers, cleaners, and handymen. And lets not forget taxes, which All go to the county budget to support the people of Maui. Hotels and vacation rentals pay 5 Times the property taxes as locals do, not to mention the 17.42% accommodations tax paid by every visitor.
Please stop with the “Residents don’t benefit from tourist money” nonsense.
Here in Alaska, we can see parallels with Hawaii: Roads with no side routes, 90% of our goods brought by trucks and cargo boats, poverty, domestic violence, high food costs, unsophisticated leaders, water issues, poor agriculture, wildland fires, high costs of housing, homelessness, electrical problems, ineffective warning systems, corporate takeovers, high gas costs, no manufacturing, sagging infrastructure, medical response problems, isolation, bad decision making… All wrapped up in a volcanic world of historic indigenous life, incredible beauty, sturdy, self-sufficient people – and an overdependence on a single source of income. Transferring the blame for all these problems to Hawaii’s individual visitors won’t fix all this.
I like the videos that Hawaiian Air has created. They make me feel welcome again and make me feel that I will be helping businesses get back to some sort of ‘normal’, that I will be helping the entire island while I’m there. There has been a lot of nasty accusing and ill feeling towards tourists, ‘not needed, not wanted”, but so many people depend on us for continued income and we want to help the island. Yes, we can donate but we can also be there and help the the job creation part. Part of being self sufficient again is to encourage the tourist industry to once again flourish to provide needed jobs within your community.
I’ve traveled all over the world over the years and I don’t think I need a corporate instructional video on how to act with other humans. Just to put this into perspective, did we have these videos when California was on fire? Did we have them for New York after 9/11? Do we have them for Florida after hurricanes? Did we have them for Las Vegas after the mass shooting a few years ago?
Sorry, Hawaii…you’re not that special. What happened to Laihana was horrible but horrible things happen all over the world and I’ve never seen even one video instructing visitors how to relate to the residents. As far as I’m concerned, I find it insulting and degrading.
Resident who finds the videos degrading -agree
In the history of recent American tragedies- Oklahoma bombing, 9/11, Hurricane Andrew and many others, no airline had to tell people how to behave when they visited these American cities where thousands died and memorials were erected. Maui is part of our American tragedies and we do not need to be told how to behave. FEMA, The American Red Cross, our government and countless American volunteers have stepped up to give aid. What a slap in the face to be told how to act. And you wonder why tourism is lacking.
Sonia, yes it’s insulting. Are Hawaiians so different that they have to be treated like weak children???
In our 1994 Northridge Earthquake 33 were killed immediately and 8700 were injured. No government tried to treat us like helpless people. The Hawaiian govt needs to go to school: “How to Lead in Natural Disasters.” The only problem with that is they’d find the highest-cost seminar in the most expensive, exotic location. A location that was welcoming to visitors (as are most Hawaiians).
My exact thoughts and feelings
Perhaps a video teaching Hawaiian govt./Gov. How to be fiscally responsible and how to manage your local fire fighting resources/electric companies etc. would be much more effective than lecturing tourists.
These messages are insulting period. Who do we think we are? Are we so much better than everyone that we need to tell them how they should behave. Shameful and insulting! I would not come to Hawaii after seeing these messages and listening to are so called leaders warn visitors about being respectful.
After watching these videos does anyone still believe that “The Hawaiian Aloha Spirit” is a real thing or just a HTA travel slogan.
“Visit, spend, go home”, remember that one?
Since 2020 the Hawaiian Islands have treated tourists like diseased cash cows. We’re expected to go there on a crammed flight only when you want, spend money how you tell us to, behave a special way, and then get out.
Since that time we realized Hawaii is not worth it anymore. It takes forever to get there on one of the terrible airlines, it’s expensive, and tourists are resented. And now we’re expected to follow special protocol to avoid offending locals, drop lots of money, and get out. If vacation means spending a lot of money to be resented in a beautiful place, we’ll leave that experience to less experienced travelers who don’t know better.
Agreed – I have always loved Hawaii and continue to visit annually but have greatly expanded my travels to other beautiful and also welcoming places. Just returned from the coast of Southern Spain; fabulous! The US and BVI’s are also lovely. So many places in the world; perhaps Phuket next. Hawaii is special but has held itself up as the ultimate vacation while also finding every way the government can to take advantage of tourists. I’m kind of over it!
These videos will all live online and are probably part of the $2.5 mil the HTA is spending telling people not to come. Again, their message is wrong and all of them should be fired. Stop wasting $$.
Reading these commenters, it is obvious that most are the people you see in Maui who harass the turtles, go off trails and generally make a bad name for the tourists who genuinely love the islands and the people who live there. I suggest they use their tourist dollars to visit Florida or Texas, where they can truly be themselves.
I’m from Texas and as I said I do research before I visit other areas. I use common sense and apply the Golden Rule. I try to leave an area at least like I found it. Or better. We have a slogan here in Texas: Don’t Mess with Texas-which in case you aren’t familiar with it the meaning of it is don’t litter. I want visitors to be comfortable in Texas but not uncaring and destructive. We also have another unofficial slogan: Welcome to Texas. Now go home!
I think you’re wrong.
I think what they’re saying is that they know how to show respect and they will certainly be sensitive to those who have lost their homes, and that therefore they don’t need a video training course explain how to do these things and to be a good human. It’s obvious. That’s what I hear them saying.
Why would you think these commenters would do these bad things?
I have always resented the tourists who behave the way you describe. I and my extended family have always treated this destination with respect just as we do everywhere and just as we expect at home.
I find it very off-putting and condescending to be instructed how to behave while on vacation, and I think these videos will not work as intended. There are always going to be people who act rudely; videos telling them not to will have exactly zero impact on them. I’ve never seen instructional videos for any location in the world other than Hawaii. Why are they needed here?
I just saw three just yesterday. Iceland, Machu Picchu, Abu Dhabi.
Oh, yeah, these days there are always the “10 things not to do when you are in xxxxx”, for a myriad of countries, cities, etc., written by bots, for a myriad of countries, cities, etc. They even have videos like “How to act on airplanes”. That’s not the same type of video we are talking about here.
Aloha,
I have been digesting the videos and comments. I hoped the video may instruct all of on how to communicate compassionately with trauma victims of the Lahaina fires: what to say and what not to say. I too wish we could put all the Maui stakeholders into a room and respectfully share perspectives, learn from each other, and work towards consensus (meaning you may not get everything you want) on how to move forward to heal, rebuild Lahaina and lives of the survivors. The older I get the more I realize it is never good to judge without hearing full stories. Needs/grieving processes are not all equal. It saddens me when we label people tourists, or locals, or politicians or whatever. We are simply human beings. As said by many be kind.
I must admit that I continue to be astonished that HI government & corporate interests want to have free reign to instruct, indoctrinate, develop approved/unapproved feelings, & be the arbiter of cultural right & wrong. Personally, I want the County to focus on delivering defined services for everyone – both local & visitor – like utility oversight, water, roads, reasonable & fast-tract permit and rebuilding assistance. I don’t think that creating a Ministry of Cultural Sensitivity should be a priority for them. Likewise, I want the airlines to provide safe & reasonably priced travel. I don’t pay them fare dollars for them to play “Miss Manners.” Compare travel $ spent to NY WTC post 2001 or 9th Ward in New Orleans post Katrina.