Of the Hawaiian Islands that have benefited most from Maui’s tourism decline following the August 2023 Lahaina fire, Oahu is number one. The latest monthly visitor statistics for November 2023 showed an 11.9% growth for Oahu compared to a year ago. That’s compared to Kauai with 5% growth (Part One in our series) and Big Island with a 6.3% increase (upcoming Part Three).
Choosing between these two enchanting islands, Maui and Oahu, might have been more challenging before, but now, things like visitors feeling welcome, lower cost, the aftermath of the fire, and other factors seem to have weighed heavily in favor of Honolulu as Maui resets and recovers.
For many, the choice of islands between these two icons has always depended on your vacation style. It’s a fascinating contrast.
- For those seeking a cosmopolitan vibe, replete with more nightlife, a Hawaiian cultural and historic immersion, and arguably more budget-friendly travel, Oahu is a good choice.
- Maui has always been somewhat of a cross between Oahu and the other more rural neighbor islands. In addition to nightlife, fine restaurants, and big resorts, it also offers less traffic than Oahu and great outdoor adventures. Maui tends to appeal more to those seeking romantic and family vacations, often vacation rental-based. It offers great snorkeling nearby at Molokini, somewhat less intensity and traffic than Honolulu, and great visitor activities, including the islands’ most iconic whale-watching in season.
- Maui is the epitome of a classic tropical vacation destination, with its exquisite beaches and world-famous resorts. It offers a slower pace than Honolulu and thus is more relaxing. Maui is epitomized by destinations including Mt. Haleakala, and the Road to Hana.
Maui visitors remain flummoxed for now following the Lahaina fire.
Maui is trying to find its way in the midst of necessary tourism, the still suffering fire victims, its long-term housing shortages, and more irate than ever anti-tourism proponents.
None of this is helped by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the long-troubled arm of state travel marketing. HTA recently stated it is looking only for “respectful” visitors for Maui from the US and Canada. They want visitors who are compassionate, who can come respectfully, and who can really abide by some of the sensitivities and restrictions in place to protect the community at this time. So long as you do it mindfully.”
At risk of alienation and backfiring, however, Maui travel that comes in at close to $20 billion of annual visitor spend. That has not resumed normalcy since the fire, and is complicated by all these other issues.
Why choose Honolulu?
Honolulu is six times larger than Maui, at least in terms of residents, and has arguably more infrastructure, including freeways, that more easily accommodates visitors.
Oahu consistently ranks as having the next-best airfares overall, coming in just behind Maui. For 2024, Honolulu, will maintain its reputation for offering the best overall Hawaii deals when considering all costs. Boasting the highest number of nonstop flights from the mainland, including a selection of highly desirable wide-body aircraft options, Honolulu ensures convenient access from the mainland and internationally.
Average nightly hotel rates are 45% less in Honolulu, compared with Maui.
In the latest month’s data, Oahu hotels reported an average nightly rate of $271. That compares with an average nightly rate of $497 for the same period, on Maui.
60% of all Hawaii visitors come to Honolulu, which we’ll alternately refer to as Oahu, and is typified by renowned Waikiki. Oahu is home to about 80% of Hawaii’s population, with about one million residents. But Honolulu is about far more than Honolulu or Waikiki. It also includes the world-famous North Shore and the exclusive Ko Olina destination, where Disney Aulani is found.
With a good public transportation system, The Bus, it’s easier to get around without a rental car or have one for shorter periods of time. And it is largely pedestrian friendly as well.
Exploring Oahu in 2023
For those exploring Oahu this year, the Kaimuki neighborhood still beckons with its diverse shopping and dining options. Delve into the cultural tapestry by touring the Doris Duke “Shangri-La” Estate or bask in the sun at Sans Souci Beach on the Diamond Head side of Waikiki. Discover the pristine white sands of Waimanalo Beach or dive into Hawaiian history at the Honolulu Museum of Art and Iolani Palace. These are just a few starting points for an array of engaging activities, as Honolulu offers limitless possibilities. One of the most visited places in all Hawaii is here, and that is, of course, historic Pearl Harbor.
Honolulu still begs to be discovered.
Hawaii’s only city, Honolulu, epitomizes an everlasting fusion of cultures, nature, and activities. Featuring the highest number of travel options from the mainland, interisland, and within the city itself, Honolulu provides, if nothing else, a well-connected experience. The island features a robust public transportation system, making a rental car for an entire vacation unnecessary. With competitive airfare prices and an extensive range of accommodations, Oahu caters to diverse budgets. Oahu ensures an abundance of activities, from exceptional shopping and cultural immersion to a myriad of dining options and entertainment. Iconic Waikiki Beach, renowned surfing spots, the mesmerizing Hanauma Bay for snorkeling, and the historically significant Pearl Harbor contribute to Oahu’s allure.
A more laid-back Oahu.
For those seeking a more relaxed experience, driving to the island’s other side via the popular Polynesian Cultural Center still unveils a predominantly rural environment, albeit with some traffic. Witness humpback whales during winter, a spectacle visible throughout the Hawaiian islands, including here. Oahu, with its multifaceted offerings, ensures that every visitor finds a slice of paradise tailored to their preferences.
Maui was ready for tourism trouble for years before the Lahaina fire.
The fire served to bring the conflict to a head. Even as it serves as the economic force on Maui, many if not most, residents have been and remain concerned about the focus and the sheer volume of travelers. Remember too that Maui doesn’t have adequate tourism infrastructure to support the number of visitors is typically receives. Also, It is well known that tourism creates mostly low paying employment, inadequate to support the cost of living on Maui. Add to that terrible traffic, and overcrowding at Maui beaches enjoyed by residents and visitors. Clearly, Maui has been overrun with visitors for many years. Yet, Maui officials have long courted more tourism and added flights, including those of newcomer Southwest Airlines. So what should happen now?
We welcome your input on traveling to Maui and on Oahu as an alternative destination for your Hawaii vacation.
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This post is starting to get out-of-date, as there has been big shift in visitor arrivals just over the past few weeks. Near where I live, the Andaz is 90% full, and a friend of mine who works in the restaurant there has 200 diners every night.
I think there has been a lot of positive press generated lately about the beauty of this island, how much there is to do here, and how much visitor support for the local economy is appreciated. It seems to be working. Take a look at the 2024 visitor counts for Maui on the government charts here:
dbedt.hawaii.gov/visitor/daily-passenger-counts/
Having lived in Maui for years it was very apparent that people didn’t want tourists there. Maybe people are starting to listen. Who wants to go somewhere they are not welcome. Especially at the high expense. The Bahamas, Mexico and the Caribbean are all cheaper and more welcoming
Who is surprised that tourism is tanking? And the fire is a small part of the reason. Hawaiian tourism board has been loud and clear that the welcome mat has been taken in. Once that happened it took hold right down to rude service at record high prices. The public isn’t as ignorant as the Tourism board. Sorry folks. You shot yourselves in the foot. Enjoy the higher taxes you may face to make up for the financial loss.
I enjoyed Oahu as it is built better for tourism . Maui is nice but stuck in time with narrow roads and lack of imaginative tourist attractions. As in the PCC, North Shore surfing, shrimp trucks, a diamond head view of the island by foot, pearl harbour and movie locations
I went to Oahu in 2009 and have been trying to get back ever since. I have always felt I should’ve been born here. Beautiful paradise that I would love to live in.
So it’s clear the writer has an agenda. All descriptions of Oahu are glowing … while all descriptions of Maui are “horrible, awful, terrible.” Obviously neither extreme is accurate, so it makes me wonder whether this writer is being paid to steer visitors away from Maui and towards other islands. Not credible, but designed to stir up controversy. Grow up. All the islands need help and improvement, so the question should be, “what can we do to help?”
I love Maui as well as AZ , NY and all other states.
I have been close to the fire and tornado and other natural catastrophes in several states.
Maui fire is unique in many ways since it is an island.
Tourists are also devastated with the fire in Lahaina and are helping the best way they can by donating their time as volunteers and with money to the charitable agencies like hawaiina strong.
We are all in it together when nature gives us challenges.
Empathy and compassion , and no blame to any one will help us move forward and build Lahaina.
This statement is disturbing,
Also, It is well known that tourism creates mostly low paying employment, inadequate to support the cost of living on Maui.
What else shall the residents do for employment? Tourism is the main driving form of revenue for the entire state?
We are coming to Maui January 23 for four weeks. We’ve been coming since 2005. We are disheartened by all the anti visitor press but love Maui too much to cancel.
We’ve been to Maui ten times over the last sixteen years. We only stay at one of the big resorts in the Kaanapali area. We also go to Cabo once in awhile, but Maui is our favorite. We would spend a lot of time at Lahaina town, shopping, dining and going on boats from the harbor. We are heartbroken by the lahaina
and devastation. We had a reservation for January 2024, but we cancelled it. It’s clear that the conflict over the business of tourism is opposed by many. We see it and feel it from the mainland. Not sure we want to go where we are not wanted right now. We want to go, but feel that right now is not the right time. We hope that all of the factions can decide on the future of Lahaina and move forward, not sure that will happen.
I’m here, and the thing is, what you are “feeling” from the mainland is not the way it actually is. You are “feeling” a few people online, opposed to tourism, who have been expressing themselves in this manner long before the fires.
Please read the reports of the thousands of people who have actually visited here in the last 5 months. The vast majority have had a wonderful time with no negative atmosphere or experiences whatsoever. As I said, I’m here in South Maui, on the ground, and this is what I and thousands of visitors are experiencing. Everyone is very glad they came.
Being respectful and mindful is one thing, causing further devastation to the island’s economic survival by staying away is another.
We haven’t been to Hawaii in five years because life got in the way. This year I made it clear I wanted to go and that I wanted to go to Maui. Beyond contributions we’ve already made, we thought our pumping some money into the local economy is a way to hepl.
We’ve been to all the islands multiple times but Maui the most. It’s my happy place, where I’ve never felt unwelcome. But tourists shouldn’t be blamed for the lack of diversity in Maui’s economy. The reasons for that are many and complex but visitors who come a long way (New York, for me) aren’t to blame. And I don’t need the HTA telling me to visit “mindfully” and “respectfully.” Just say, thanks for coming and call it a day.
Maui will Recover!! Patti C.
I recently went to Maui and didn’t feel welcome at all, I’ll never go back.
Where were you on island where you felt this way ? We are traveling for 1st time there middle of Feb. Till March. Was this your 1st time ? Thank you.
Your paragraph on “risk of alienation …backfiring.. up to $20 billion makes no sense. What is it trying to say?
Other than that, i have always preferred oahu of the 4 I’ve been to: met more natives, true hawaii culture lovers…IZ, performers who still do his songs, and many hidden gems regular maui fans have never seen or just poo poo because oahu is more crowded. Oahu is as beautiful as it was 50 years ago. And maui doesn’t have leahi (diamond head).
Maui rates have only gone up since the fire as well. I go every October and rates for this coming October are some of the highest I have seen. It’s hard to sell someone on coming to an island that lost a very special place and charging more for it. If I didn’t have family on Maui, I would go to a different island.
What rates are you referring to? I’ve been checking out the vacation rentals in both South and West Maui, and rates have gone down considerably since the fires.
Don’t blame the tourists for who You voted into office! It’s your local, state government that allowed the mass building of resorts but not improving the infrastructure. I agree participation trophy, entitled tourists are driving everyone crazy.
What are the entitled tourists doing? I’m here, and all I see is tourists walking down the pathways, swimming, and marveling at the beauty of our beautiful island. What are you seeing that constitutes entitled behavior, other than just being here?
Excellent take, BOH. I always tell first-time Hawaii visitors to start in Honolulu/Oahu. It’s intense from the moment you see the dramatic skyline rise from the Pacific in the middle of nowhere. So much history, culture, and fun to be had. Then branch out to the other islands to wind yourself down. Keen observation, too, on Maui’s courting disaster in more ways than one. Nature forced this reconciliation – and equilibrium will be found. Some won’t visit Maui because “it won’t be the same.” We will continue to visit to “support” whatever Mother Time chooses to be the better Maui for all.
But it is the same, everywhere but Lahaina, and coming to Lahaina usually represented about 1 day of a visitor’s stay. Maui is more “the same” than many people think.
After reading all these articles I wonder if traveling to Hawaii (Maui) in particular is the right one. We are coming for 16 days next month for first time. Bucket list thing. Didnt want to Island hop. Felt Maui met what were wanting to see.
Coming from FL. We know all too well what mother nature can do. But Tourism is a big part of the economy here as well.
We are booking some of our tours with businesses affected by fires. We are not coming because of what happened. But are glad it does help those that depend on it.
Laid back and Oahu in the same sentence?
Hard to believe!
Then you haven’t met any of the locals, and/or don’t know where to go. Have you tried to meet any? Have you taken a catamaran ride? Have you gone to chinatown or kaneohe?
I think the scaling back of Maui tourism is appropriate for now, and hopefully more employment will come in the firm of rebuilding and rebranding of the Maui experience. More culturally focused and “empathic” would be welcomed by all, and Maui can frankly do without Travellers who only wish to “exploit” limited resources and “be served”.
I’m really trying to understand this “exploitation” and “being served” criticism. Is it somehow different from other visitors to other locales? Or are you just taking about tourism in general? I don’t see tourists to Maui as any different than tourists anywhere else.
The powers that be need to listen to the Lahaina residents and detoxify the land where it is and rebuild. Let’s not pollute the landscape of Maui and its aine by moving toxic waste over fresh water aqua firs and next to manta Rey’s and coral reef and call it good. It’s an outrage to the environment and to the residents of Maui. The politicians need to represent the population. They are here to serve us; not the other way around.
Remember Lahaina. Rebuild Lahaina.
Aloha- Clearing up a few misconceptions. Re: “Yet, Maui officials have long courted more tourism and added flights, including those of newcomer Southwest Airlines.” Idk who these Maui ‘officials’ are you speak of, but we have absolutely no say in airlines or airports, this is all dictated by the State. The massive airport expansion completed a few years ago was done entirely by the State without Maui input. We passed a hotel moratorium a few years ago, so it is not valid to say we encouraging tourism. Maui County Plan states no more than 33% of population in visitors on-island per day, however, we sometimes see 50% or more but we canna control flights. And HTA needs to kulikuli, we voted to defund them.
This is not all about maui. It’s about oahu, which is just as precious.
Air travel to Hawaii is not up to the state either. It is a Federal right for each person to be able to travel freely, anywhere in the US. The airlines know this, and set their resources, flights, etc. accordingly.
For instance, the only way travel was curtailed to the islands during Covid was with a 2-week quarantine on each island. The State was unable to convince the FAA to reduce the number of flights, so they put a quarantine in place instead.
I congratulate Governor Green for his ability to quickly find a strategy to find housing for the the needy.
As an optimist I hope most people are satisfied with the proposal while implementation may be challenging to each party named here with specific tasks with a timeline
Mahalo
Unless you are a homeowner forced to comply!
I don’t think homeowner’s will be forced to comply. That was just strong-arming rhetoric, which was the wrong strategy.
What will happen, though, is anyone with a short-term rental will have their taxes raised astronomically to pay for what the county has given to the displaced. Mark my words.
If you’re a long-distance homeowner making money renting out a vacation home in the short-term market, you’re part of the problem. Hawaii is suffering a critical housing shortage. Every mainlander buying a home just to rent out to vacationers simply adds to an already enormous problem. The demand from off-island drives home values beyond locals’ reach, removing housing stock from those who need it.
If you want to buy a home as a primary residence and rent out an Ohana unit, give preference to long-term renters who desperately need a place to live.
There have been vacation rentals in resort areas on Maui since the 1950’s. They are responsible for a gigantic share of Maui’s job economy and tax base. Short-term rentals bring in more tax revenue than any other source, multiples more than hotels. To take this fact and turn it around to make vacation rental ownership something to feel guilty about is misguided and misdirected.
The real answer to the housing dilemma is for the government to use the vacation rental tax revenue to directly help their people by subsidizing the building of housing designed for long-term use.
This is such an obvious solution, rather than to try to retrofit resort vacation rentals which are never intended for and ill-equipped for long term use.
The issue is that there are far more visitors than Maui can handle. That is mentioned in the article. In addition, short term rentals haven’t stayed in the resort areas, they have infiltrated every part of Maui. That is something those owners should feel guilty about. A large portion of properties are short term rentals that only 5, 10, 15 years ago housed locals. To say the locals do not belong living in some of these properties is ridiculous.
Maui doesn’t need to keep building new developments, it needs to stop allowing everything to turn into a STR.
Sandy, short-term rentals have now been capped, so you don’t have to worry about more of them being created out of the long-term stock.
Also, there are only a couple of hundred homes in neighborhoods that currently have STRH permits. There are many more (thousands) that were built pre-1989 as vacation rentals and are concentrated in resort areas.
The government recognizes that a significant amount of affordable housing needs to be built for balance with the rest of the housing stock. They are working on streamlining permitting processes and making sure proper infrastructure is in place.
I urge you to follow and attend the County Council meetings. You can find the schedule here:
mauicounty.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
I have to ask, How did the people who own the vacation rental properties buy them in the first place unless the former owners were willing to sell them? And probably at top dollar.
If Maui doesn’t want mainlanders buying their homes, then don’t sell them! Problem solved. People see a quick buck by selling to outsiders and then complain about too many outsiders. Happens on the mainland too between certain states.
Good point!
Green has been, and is, part of the problem. No better than ige.
Over the years I’ve been to Maui, Kauai, Hawaii and Oahu. I think I may have been to one other island in the 1970s, but I’m not sure.
Each island has something to offer. But, I prefer Oahu – it has it all – small quiet, beautiful beaches, rambunctious Waikiki and everything in between.
I love Maui. I remember my first visit (of what turned out to be many). I fell completely head-over-heels in love. Between the bully in the black Escalade on the road to Hana during our last trip and the endless stream of comments on social media, I came to understand that Maui does not love me. I’m quiet, I have good manners, I’m respectful, and I spend an outrageous amount of money in support of local businesses while I’m there but the message is clear: “get out and stay out, haole.” I wish I’d known that the last trip might possibly be my last trip. I would have done some of my favorite things that I thought could wait until the next time when I’d be there longer.
Housing for the “needy”? These are thousands of residents that were made to be without homes due to years of mismanagement of resources, insufficient infrastructure, greedy politicians and their negligence. They allowed the overtourism to take control of the island, specifically the west side. What needs to happen now is to slash the ridiculous amount of vacation rentals on Maui. There are more vacation rentals on Maui than any other island, yet Maui does not have the largest population.
Like BOH said in this article, Maui is an island that caters in a major way to groups and families that want to stay in vacation rentals. That’s why there are more of them here – the vacation rentals are supported by the demand.
I do agree, though, that there should be a limit. The Maui Island plan states that there should be no more than 33% visitors on the island at any given time, I think that’s reasonable, and the county has recently passed bills to try to cap tourism so that it falls more in line with this ratio.
Excellent analysis. Tourism to Maui was unsustainable long before the pandemic and most recent fire. Unfortunately, there is no practical way to constrain or restrict unsustainable numbers of Maui visitors other than cost of stay, which was what was starting to happen, with those at the budget end of the spectrum simply being left behind.
Maui will take time to recover. But the fact remains that if there are far too many people wanting to visit than the island can practically accommodate, the only viable limiting factor will be price.