Sharing their struggles, local businesses ask for transparency from officials and a date when tourism will reopen.
56 thoughts on “Government and Businesses at Loggerheads on Reopening Tourism”
Comments are closed.
Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel Tips » Government and Businesses at Loggerheads on Reopening Tourism
Residents of Kauai should demand that the mayor and councilmembers forgo their salaries until the island comes up with a fair plan.
My wife and I and another couple are scheduled to visit Kauai in May. All four of us have been vaccinated. As of right now, I doubt we will make the trip because of the insane rules that are in effect.
This is absolutely crazy. Vote these people out.
Maybe it would be a good if the mayor stopped getting paid along with the other bureaucrats? Maybe teaches too?
Just a thought
I have traveled multiple times to Kauai and I am supposed to be on Kauai this week. We cancelled the trip in late November due to the ever changing plans of Kauai, some with only days notice. We changed our trip to venture to St. Maarten. Living in Arkansas, we only had one Covid-testing option that met Hawaii’s partnered testing (Walgreens). St. Maarten gave us 120 hours for a nasal swab PCR testing window or 48 hours for one of four named antigen tests. We were so thankful for this because our PCR test took 4 days for us to get the results from Walgreens. St. Maarten was willing to accept Covid testing from any accredited laboratory or clinic as long as certain requirements were met. The island mandated that we submit our test results prior to our arrival, and then mandated us paying for its Covid insurance policy for $30 per person. That would have covered us for up to 4 Covid tests and covered our entire lodging during any necessary “quarantine.” Upon our arrival, we were so well received. I’ve traveled there before, prior to it being decimated by two, category 4 hurricanes in 2017. The reason I am writing this is to demonstrate how another island economy is treating life in Covid times. When the United States announced mandatory Covid testing prior to entering the country, the property we stayed at emailed us a list of 6 laboratories or clinics (including contact information) that were conducting the testing with guaranteed results in less than 24 hours. Two days later, the property announced that it was going to have one of the labs test on the property itself every Thursday evening. I spoke with the general manager about St. Maarten’s plans to reduce the testing window from 120 hours to 72. She told me the government had changed course and was going to keep the testing window at 120 hours because the need for tourists outweighed the slight increased risks of a few more Covid cases since the policy had been working for over 6 months already.
There is a growing grass roots movement to dethrone the powers of mayor Kawakami and open Kauai. Thank you for sharing this.
I am wondering and hoping that the mayor reads the comments on Beat of Hawaii. I hope so. People who legally rent out their home, who follow the rules and are licensed already pay higher property taxes than owner occupied homes and we are threatened with an even higher bill, yet we are not allowed to be part of the “bubble.” Does that sound right? We are going to get our second shot soon. My potential guests are thinking that if they get their second dose that they should be okay to come to Kauai.
Let me ask this… what has Kauaʻi done to improve the health system there… by now I would expect far more ICU beds being available… have they just sat there and not upped the numbers on that or brought in more medical teams? Seems like that would help… I haven’t read ANYTHING saying the island has done ANYTHING to correct that.
You guys are the rudder steering the information ship. -it’s beyond me how a person,people, who are receiving salaries can continue to be oblivious to the silent suffering of not only Kauai residents,but good simple people,who love Kauai,visitors who find joy and happiness on Kauai-
Hi Jeanne.
Thank you! We appreciate your more than 50 comments.
Aloha.
Has anybody considered that Mayor Kawakami secretly doesn’t want tourism to return and he wants businesses to fail so that Kauai will return to the way it was in the 60’s? And COVID is the perfect vehicle for him to realize his dreams.
I wish I had something good to say about the decisions being made, but I don’t. This is a good time to keep quiet and wait for the obvious to happen. – Mahalo
Please…Impeach Kawakami! Mahalo!! 🌴
John in RI