Another day in Hawaii as the economy sinks further and businesses come to grips with this uncertainty. Putting the information together was shocking, even for us here. Many businesses indicate that they will not be returning and a huge number say that the terminations will now become permanent.
Hawaii has always had a high cost of living because of its location and dependence on imports, while at the same time, ranking low in personal income. Travel has for a long time been the leading industry for the state. With that gone, everyone suffers because tourism directly or indirectly impacts most households. Reading the numbers below, we were struck silent.
It’s been estimated the situation may not get back to Pre-COVID days for an entire decade! The road ahead may be long with many turns. “To shut down the entire state again, businesses are going to die,” said Tina Yamaki, president of Retail Merchants of Hawaii
As Big Island’s Mauna Kea Resort’s representative said, “It is now apparent that the State of Hawaii has no clear timeline for reopening plans… We are uncertain given the rapidly-changing situation how our circumstances will continue to evolve.”
Below is an incomplete list Hawaii travel businesses’ that have issued formal warnings as required regarding employees being furloughed, terminated, laid-off, or working reduced hours. The numbers are growing exponentially.
Grand Hyatt Kauai stated, “The demand for travel, events, and hospitality services will take substantially longer to resume than previously anticipated.” They indicated that what was hoped would be temporary separations, have now become permanent. What we are now seeing is that many of those businesses impacted are not continuing with furloughs, but rather have terminated employees.
Below is just a partial look at the number of jobs associated with the WARN notifications, as reported by the State of Hawaii Department of Labor. Some aspects of Hawaii travel are not even represented, like the vacation rental industry, which has also come to a virtually complete standstill.
Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa: 293.
The Westin Maui Resort & Spa Kaanapali: 614.
Moana Surfrider Hotel: 632.
Royal Hawaiian Hotel: 493.
Sheraton Maui Hotel: 414.
Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel: 398.
Sheraton Waikiki Hotel & Central Resources Team: 1,188.
Tropical Plantation & The Mill House: 236.
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa: 544.
Residence Inn Maui Wailea: 54.
Wailea Beach Resort Marriott-Maui: 470.
Courtyard by Marriott Maui Kahului Airport: 55.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach: 273.
Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach: unknown number.
Ambassador Hotel Waikiki: 78.
Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel: 160.
Courtyard by Marriott Waikiki Beach: 75.
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa: hundreds of employees.
Hilton Waikiki Beach: unknown number.
Park Shore Waikiki: 60.
Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay: 250.
Ritz Carlton Kapalua: 653.
Hertz: over 100.
Andaz Maui Wailea: over 200.
Four Seasons Resort Wailea: 1,023.
Hyatt Regency Waikiki: hundreds.
Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa: hundreds.
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai: 680.
Ruth Chris Steak House Maui: unknown number.
The Laylow Waikiki: 65.
Hilton Grand Vacations Honolulu: unknown number.
Hilton Grand Vacations Waikoloa: hundreds.
United Airlines: unknown number.
Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach: 66.
Miyako Restaurant: 14.
Halepuna Waikiki: 129.
Halekulani: 784.
Sea Life Park: 55.
Big Island Candies: 111.
Fairmont Orchid: hundreds.
Trump International Hotel Waikiki: hundreds.
Polynesian Cultural Center: 75-80.
Montage Kapalua Bay: 249.
Ruth’s Chris Steak House Kauai: unknown number.
Wyndham Vacation Ownership: 123.
DFS Group: 403.
NCL Pride of America: 985.
Kahala Resort: 496.
Travaasa Resort. Approx. 100.
Fairmont Kea Lani Maui: 625.
Hawaiian Airlines: unknown number.
Grand Wailea: 1,150.
Four Seasons Oahu: unknown number.
Hilton Hawaiian Village: unknown number.
Double Tree Alana Waikiki Beach Hotel: 90+.
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai: 680.
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea: 1,023.
Honolulu Cookie Co.: 71.
Hyatt Regency Waikiki: hundreds.
Koloa Landing Resort: unknown number.
Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort: 134.
Four Seasons Resort Lanai: unknown number.
Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites: unknown number.
Kaanapali Beach Resort: unknown number.
Kauai Lagoons: unknown number.
Koolina Beach Club: unknown number.
Maui Ocean Club: unknown number.
Waikoloa Ocean Club: unknown number.
Waiohai Beach Club: unknown number.
Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort: unknown number.
Westin Nanea Ocean Resort & Villas: unknown number.
Westin Nanea Ocean Resort & Villas: unknown number.
Westin Princeville Ocean Resort: unknown number.
Prince Resorts Hawaii: unknown number.
Royal Kona Resort: over 100.
Turtle Bay: 606+.
Mauna Kea Resort: unknown number.
NCL Pride of America: 985.
You have hotels listed twice on your list. How accurate is this information??
Unlike you folks on the mainland we have very limited medical facilities especially on the neighbor islands. You have the luxury of being able to ignore science and the have a health care system to bale you out….even if you don’t have insurance. We don’t and if you can’t follow our rules vacation somewhere else.
Mark,
Well said! And this is the entire problem on the mainland. People are refusing to socially distance or even wear masks. And I have been around too many tourists who trash wherever they go dont bother to respect the locals or the environment around them. Hopefully this will send jerks elsewhere so that those of us who are able willing to do all of the above can be the ones to visit.
Exactly the kind of remarks that create division. Hawaii will sink into oblivion and never recover anytime soon. Let me know how your remarks is helping create understanding. The state is already broke from ridiculous unnecessary spending. Do you know that stay at home orders are unconstitutional? Wearing mask and social distancing is not a fix all. However, it does help to create a safer environment to those who are highly vulnerable like me. I am high risk guarantee to go on a ventilator if I get it, but there is a right way and a wrong way to every situation.
Politicians have no clue and fake news is everywhere. Do you know that corona viruses are nothing new. Every virus out there becomes immune to preventative medication and the doses need to be increased to keep it in check. Do some homework and see for yourself. The information is everywhere. Ever notice that the health industry constantly uses the phase medical practice? All the schooling of learning to be a medical professional, is not an absolute. This change of venue in new diseases will never stop for the rest of your life or mine.
Too much Fox News propaganda in your comments to spend time replying. I sincerely hope you are living close to a hospital that can provide adequate care if you are wrong.
So true about the Fox News observation. Can you imagine Walter Cronkite tapping into people’s worst instincts just to boost ratings.
Lot of money in fear and anger, Some people just need to hate it seems.
That’s because you have no answers with facts. Just for your info, I don’t watch Fox news. I am born and raised in Hawaii and have friends I talk to every week who are suffering. Keep up the good work. Hawaii will soon have food lines if they keep heading down this path of a clueless direction. Hawaii’s own news channels are reporting the Island news and the destruction of the people,businesses and the life style that Hawaii has to offer. I am a successful business man and have been blessed with all I have. That doesn’t make me better than anyone else who chooses to do the right thing and make intelligent decisions. You just made an accusation that you have no clue what you are talking about. You don’t know my life, but somehow in your mind you know my preference of news sources. That only shows disrespect and clueless thinking which most people who can’t defend their own thinking resort to.
If you live in the Islands, you surely can’t believe you are helping your own people.
If people are going to be critical of one news agency. You should also look at what other news groups report. Remember in 1996 when NBC reported about Richard Jewell the supposed bomber in Atlanta. They were wrong and paid a hefty fine. Recently, Nick Sandman, CNN was also wrong and pays a hefty fine. Chuck Todd, on Meet the Press, is lazy in fact checking and just plays parts of an interview with AG Barr to further his ideology. Just today Alan Dershowitz file a $300 million dollar lawsuit against CNN for their willful, deliberate, malicious effort to destroy my credibility. In other words they lie about what he said.
So, lets be fair, you may thing FOX is biased in their reporting, others may think CNN, NBC, ABC and others are biased in their reporting.
Time to stop all the finger pointing and biased reporting. The tv news is no longer news it is opinion. We will be in deep trouble in this country and the divide will just get worst if don’t stop being so critical about each other. Remember we are all Americans and United we stand, and divided we will far.
Fox is NOT news. Its entertainment. They were sued for lying and they argued in court they were not news but entertainment so now they are free to lie all they want. Check it out its a Fact
Hey Paul, In 2009 ABC report, Jack Tapper, defended FOX News when the Obama Declared that FOX was not a news agency, remember. Then in 2018 FOX defends CNN when a the Trump administration wanted to bar one of their reporters. Also, look who are paying these large settlements for reporting false news. NBC with Richard Jewell, CNN with Nick Sandman and now a $300 million suit from Alan Dershowitz. There is enough blame to go around but don’t say just one is lying to the American people. The news isn’t what it was 30 or 40 years ago. People are much more polarized by these “FAKE NEWS” reporting, on both side. Sit back take a deep breath and try your best to find the truth. I do that by listening to both side and I even watch some foreign news reports and get some facts or an opinion from someone who doesn’t have a horse in this race.
Just made the very difficult decision to cancel our trip planned for next May. Even with the soft opening in October, it sounds like it will take at least a year or so for Hawaii to bounce back, and I’m not entirely sure it is safe for tourists to be over there right now anyway. Truth be told, there doesn’t seem to be any safe place in the U.S. right now with all of the hate and anger that is going on.
Not sure if or when we will get to visit the beautiful islands again, but I wish everyone who lives there much aloha and God’s blessings for recovery.
Hi Debi.
Always good to hear from you.
Aloha.
More lives have been destroyed by the actions of the Governor and the state keeping tourists off the island than would have died had the state remained open with health precautions. The devastation has resulted in several of my fellow business owners taking their life, falling off the AA wagon and going back to drinking, and watching their savings wash out to sea.
As a wise Hawaiian native shared with me the other day, “We never shut the islands down when AIDS was killing our locals. With AIDS we knew the way to stop the spread yet no one did anything.”
Our state is killing us by destroying our income. The pain and destruction will be felt for years and possibly into the ‘30s. At least those against people operating Air B&Bs on the island can gloat while standing in the food line with their neighbors looking down at falling real estate prices.
I am sorry about loss of life but if you are killing yourself over your business you have bigger problems that just a shut down. And if your an alcoholic seek help. No excuse to kill yourself.
I love Maui had a restaurant, home and
Timeshare there. Moved back to mainland
to help my 95 year old mother 3 years ago
Mom died and wanted to come back in
2020 But Covid ended that. I am down in
FL now just bought a new home. I determined
That who knows when Maui will every open
Unfortunately. In Florida all is open and I Mean
Every thing.+ Hotels and restaurants.
Hi Rob, former Kona resident here. Now back in So Cal and looking to move to Sarasota, FL (we love it there). I can’t even get a direct flight from SAN into Tampa to meet up with our realtor. Enjoy FL!
Cheri
Just bought a condo across from Siesta key beach.
Love it! Congratulations!
That’s a fantastic beach. Sarasota has evolved into a first class cultural center. We lived on LBK for 19 years before moving to Kauai. You’ll miss the green mountains and the red tide is an continual problem, but the sunsets are spectacular and the bars on Siesta key really rock. Enjoy.
Aloha from Hawaii.
I drove through waikiki Saturday and its amazing how many places are boarded up.
We lost at least 100 restaurants and over 50 well known ones. Thats not including the small ones who quietly served a local spot like in Kalihi.
Ala moana mall, the largest open air mall on the planet was a ghost town on a Saturday at noon.
We are devastated and as someone who worked with large and small businesses for 15 years here helping with their HR i can tell you i see dozens of my business associates and former customers shutting down and will sell their property when things come back, but they are gone.
This will leave hawaii a scared landscape for years, possibly decades especially since we already had a net loss of local residents the last few years because of the high cost of living.
I hope it gets better, but I know it won’t happen soon.
Thomas P.
I am a local boy living in San Diego right now,but I am retiring next June or so and moving back to the Islands. Keep the faith, because I will run for office and if I become the next Governor,I will save my Island home and it’s people that I love so much. I have some great ideas on how to bring Hawaii back to life again. With that said, I am not alone. I have a great support group already and have visited a few of the Islands to talk with local officials to check where their hearts are at for Hawaii. You would be amazed at how many don’t really care. I could tell by the enthusiasm in their voices. You can already see that from the present leaders already.
I have been reading many of the posts here and even posted once or twice. I have read how hard this closure is on the locals. I feel sorry because they may have lost a job. Some even blame tourist for some of their problems. Don’t feel sorry for yourselves you still have a home, hopefully a job, when this passes and a beautiful Island. What do you say to the people in California and Oregon? Many of these people have lost homes, jobs and in some cases family members to these wild fires. Granted some in Hawaii have lost a job but that pales in comparison. Be thankful that you still have a beautiful Island, a home, people willing to help and hopefully a job in the future.
Couldn’t agree more and add Washington as friends have lost homes and we sit in smoke so thick I cannot see my neighbors’ homes. We will be able to travel again, but many have lost their lives and all they own.
I had planned a vacation trip last year to fly to Kauai next month (Oct) and visit my parents up in the Wailua Homesteads area, but I decided to postpone until August of next year hoping things will be much better then, I’d like to visit the island of my roots.
I am at a loss for words…
I feel sorry for all that are losing their jobs. This virus is devastating to all the businesses large and small. Some small business will never return. People write that Hawaii is too dependent on tourist. I have to agree but what is the alternative? Hawaii is an island, if you want manufacturing jobs almost all raw materials have to be imported. It is expensive to live there too, so wages would have to reflect this and manufacturing wages have to be higher. You could demand more government jobs but there is a limit as to how many are really needed. Also for the government to operate they need money and that would mean raising taxes on all. So, as I see it, the most effective solution is the one resource you have and that is a beautiful island. Sad to say “you can not have your cake and eat it too.” As I see it, you can not keep the tourist out and have a thriving economy without them. What is the solution, I don’t know, you tell me.
IF, the sugar and pineapple industries were still going strong today, Hawaii wouldn’t be too dependant on the tourism industry for jobs and revenue
Those products will never come back. Cuban sugar, Midwestern beet sugar, and Thai coconuts can all be had at a fraction of the cost of similar products grown and processed in Hawaii. And the administrative costs incurred trying to deal with the myriad, mind-numbingly slow Hawaiian bureaucracies and their crazy business-killing permitting and regulations are insane. Land and labor costs are way too high in HI, too…And shipping costs for your perishable, limited-shelf-life agriculture products are prohibitively expensive. Agriculture is a romantic pipe dream. So, you’re stuck using your natural advantage, and that is tourism (and maybe Maui onions). Get it back before you all become permanently unemployed.
Totally agree. We are shooting ourselves in the foot.
Being fiscally responsible would be a good start. Opening up. There is a much bigger agenda at play.
We here at Kope Kabana pray for all of our friends on Hawaii. We have aloha for you all. Our business has been affected. We are a Kona coffee farm and retailer. Thinking of all of you. Mahalo. Thank you.
Hi D.Z.
Thanks.
Aloha.
It’s time to open up & get back to work. Protect the vulnerable, but the states’ approach is stupidity plain and simple.
Been going to Hawaii for years.Probably will never go back.
Will not wear a muzzle(mask) on the plane.
Will not take a test to spend my money in Hawaii.
Comments from locals thru this whole ordeal sealed the deal.The hate us people who spent money visiting their islands!
Fear is a powerful tool!
Understand how you feel. I am a member of a number of Hawaii-related online communities and it has been disappointing, to say the very least, how some locals were so quick to back the ban on tourism and shut down the Hawaiian economy even though so many people on the islands depended on tourism to make a living.
To be fair, though, many people on the mainland were just as selfish and stupid, and those spouting off the most were the ones who were not being hurt by the lock-downs.
I do understand how he feels, and do partially agree. Refusal to deal with the draconian, two-week-imprisonment (or now more likely, pre-test, phone-ap prison bracelet, and slightly shorter confinement) is spot on. Those requirements are ridiculous and border on tyranny.
However, refusal to submit to wearing a mask is insane. You want this crap to be over? We all do! HELP by wearing your damned mask and staying socially distant. If it weren’t for people with attitudes like that guy above, we’d be much farther along toward ending this scourge, not just in HI but everywhere. For crying out loud! Wear your mask when you’re in public. Yes, it sucks, but doesn’t suck as much as catching this crap…or worse, giving it to some other unsuspecting soul! He is right about the “locals” and their commentary, though. Pretty disgusting seeing this brand of “aloha” from these people.
It’s not that hard to wear a mask when you are around others, if everyone does it Covid spread would be reduced.
Getting tested is also a proven path to reducing spread to others.
Not wanting to do either simply proves you are more concerned about yourself and being mildly inconvenienced then
helping us all get through this.
Nobody hear “hates” tourists, we are just very tired of the intensely self focused ones.
You sound like you are a victim of the wave of narcissism that is currently washing over our country and will define the times when
history is written. Not your fault dude and sadly you’re not alone.
Aloha
Not sure where you get your information about hating tourists. Yes we currently have strict rules on Kauai which 99% of us follow resulting in 0 active cases. Life for many is difficult right now but the residents with financial resources are actively helping those out of work. The state has banned foreclosures and free food, produce, meat and fish is readily available. We did this after hurricanes, floods and now doing it again to protect our community. And once this pandemic passes we will welcome back tourists who respect our lifestyle and beautiful island. But we have no desire to another Florida.
Mark W.,
Ask the tourist who have been robbed,beaten and disrespected while on vacation in Hawaii. This is nothing new.
Florida sounds like a better fit for you.
Right we all know that tourists only get robbed beaten and disrespected in hawaii. Eye roll. Really?
Paul, Crimes are committed on both tourist and local. The problem is there are no real consequences for their actions. I have seen too many times where people are arrested and have ex. 27 arrests and 12 convictions and they are in their late 20’s or early 30’s. Many times people are arrested for a crime while they are out on probation. There doesn’t seem to be any real consequences for people that commit crime in Hawaii.
I lived on Kauai for a total of 15 years. We used a tax refund to leave in 2007 cost of living was to high with 2 children to support, my pale daughter would come home from school saying she wished her skin was brown so more kids would play with her, only 1/3 of the third graders were passing state standard testing, and fearing the coming dip in the economy would hurt Hawaii. The 2007 economy dip certainly doesn’t even compare to what they are dealing with now. Sadly though, it is the bad experiences that are remembered and shared more than the good ones. Yes, some tourists aren’t treated well, many are spoken of behind their backs in a rude and disrespectful way. It is difficult to fit in with some when you live there (though we had good friends from diverse backgrounds). Research Hawaii and reverse racism and you will find plenty examples. We have found more ‘Aloha Spirit’ in the bible belt than what is left in Hawaii.