Ige: Visitors… will not have the typical kind of (Hawaii) holiday they expect.” Important Hawaii travel news.
177 thoughts on “Updated: Governor Asks That Visitors “Stop Hawaii Travel” For Now”
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Ige: Visitors… will not have the typical kind of (Hawaii) holiday they expect.” Important Hawaii travel news.
Comments are closed.
We are schedule to leave in 5 days. It was hard to get the time off to go, and this is for a trip that was scheduled in March of Last year, rescheduled to August, then January and now August/September. We cannot reschedule at this point as this is as far as the reschedules will take us without 100% penalties. Our plans are to walk, hike, read and rest, no big crowds or gatherings. We have our vaccinations, we have our masks, and hand sanitizer and will socially distance as needed. They advised they would not make any more plans without 2 week notice, so we plan to go.
We are in the same proverbial boat. We plan to just relax and cook at the condo as much as possible. I am fairly confident that with vaccine and doing all the right things we should be safe. We are two days out from travel…. I just hope we aren’t on the same flight as the above mentioned woman who tested positive but is going to go anyway… oy.
Thanks BOH for this update —you guys are the best!
Hi Cindie.
Thank you. We appreciate your first time comment and hope to see you back soon.
Aloha.
So we paid for plane, place to stay, & activities- now what do we do? Thanks
Hi David.
Depending on the airline, you may be able to change (https://beatofhawaii.com/airlines-again-offer-free-changes-on-all-hawaii-flights/), that may or may not be the case with accommodations and activities.
Aloha.
People are selfish and should just stay put for now. That goes for visitors and kamaaina alike.
Use your downtime to understand that the world doesn’t revolve around you.
Agree!
Exactly, don’t understand this rush to go. I lived there 15 years on Maui and Oahu and have many friends but I’ll wait. Interesting how some say others must sacrifice but then they don’t.
Me and my wife have a vacation, planning to arrive in Kauai on September 7th for 10 days. It has been in the works since last summer and paid for since the first of June this year and a car rental reserved since April. Is what the Governor is asking something that is going to be enforced? Please let me know your thoughts
Thank you for all the BOH information
Bill
Hi Bill.
We don’t have anything more creative or informative to add at this point. Obviously, we’ll keep updating this as more is learned. What we already said is this. The governor suggests you don’t come during the next two months. We don’t have a crystal ball and honestly just don’t know what is going to happen or whether further restrictions could even be put in place. If you are able to reschedule that would certainly seem to be the very best plan.
Aloha.
Travelers don’t want to deal with rescheduling and no refunds.
Hawaii needs to bring back preflight testing and make it mandatory for all since the majority of new cases are resulting from residents traveling to the mainland then returning to spread Covid within their communities. Resident could potentially impact travelers on the same flight..
Unfortunately will not traveling to Hawaii in the next 2 years. Don’t think I’m alone. Have always respected the people, culture and land, but cannot handle the constant yo yo-ing. Praying this pandemic ends soon.
No one expected the surge of COVID cases. Especially me, when I booked our trip to Maui in March that is now only 10 days away. At this point, we are both vaccinated, work independently with social distance, and will continue with our plans. We will be, as a safety measure, have the 72 hr COVID test prior to our departure. Now, hopefully, rather than point fingers at the visitors (2%), the governor needs to work on aggressive measures to vaccine or protect the residents of their beautiful state.
Let’s be honest with ourselves – tourists are not the primary problem of the uptick in COVID (2% to 15% of the cases depending on how you measure and who you believe). This makes sense – the primary spread of COVID happens indoors especially in tight quarters. Tourists aren’t attending local churches and weddings and they are not bring the virus into the family home. Encouraging tourists to stay home will do nothing to solve the problem.
Hi Paul.
Thanks for all your comments! We appreciate it.
Aloha.
We had just made the decision to cancel our trip to Maui at the end of October, then saw your article. I guess we made the prudent, though upsetting, decision.
I feel for the people of Hawaii.
Thank you for the information.
Lanell
Hi Lanell.
Thanks. You, we know, we’ll see again.
Aloha.
Dear Lanell, I have decided to postpone my April (2022) trip until 2023. I just don’t feel comfortable traveling right now with the cases so high! Stay safe! You will go to Hawaii when it is meant for you to go😊 God bless you….psalms 91:11😇
I agree that right now isn’t a good time to travel anyplace that has very high cases. We as human beings need to do things to protect each other! Stay safe 🙏 be blessed!😇
If fewer than 2% of cases are traceable to visitors to the islands, it’s difficult to see how discouraging 2% of the problem from happening will have any impact. The Governor ought to be taking aggressive action to reduce the impact from his own residents – over whom he does have authority.
That is because they stopped testing visitors once we thought if you are vaccinated you are okay but that isn’t the case anymore
True that!
Whatever that action is, should apply to ALL. Just because tourist make up 2% of the cases, doesn’t mean it’s primarily the fault of the Islanders. It only takes one tourist to spread it to the locals, by visiting and interacting with people that live and work there. By the time they learn that they’re infected, they’ve already passed it around their local circle. That’s how the virus replicates itself. The virus doesn’t just manifest itself magically. It came from abroad.
I agree. That’s the only fair way to do it. It doesn’t really matter how many cases are attributed to returning residents or tourists. Just test us all. Every person not tested is a threat, and we’ll never climb out of this hole until we reduce that threat.
I presumed there had been efforts at contact tracing to verify incoming tourists had not started the chain of transmission – otherwise I don’t know that a percentage would be assignable at all. Regardless, discouraging tourism without concurrently addressing residents traveling and spreading the virus seems like a bandaid on a sucking chest wound.
Hawaii needs to test residents prior to flying to Mainland and again prior to returning. Too bad they can’t measure the infections coming from the 9th island – Las Vegas. Residents especially should also be tested for inter-island travel.
I felt safe going to Kona + Maui in April/May because I knew everyone on the plane had tested negative.
I was amazed at the local resort workers who felt no need to get the vax. ‘We’re going wait’ Yet Grandma was babysitting, kids on sports team had coaches who tested positive.
So perhaps the big resorts + timeshare companies – Wyndham, Diamond, Hilton etc should require the vax for employees.
Amen! I don’t see the governor doing anything to control the 98% of the problem. Do any of the local news organizations
ever ask any tough questions at these press conferences?
Shutting down tourism this time will really damage the local economy even worse that the previous shut down because
there will not be a federal ‘bail out’ coming from Washington .
Federal money encouraged some locals to ride things out enjoying the fact that there were no tourists on the roads or at the
beach. it will be a little uglier this time.
No visitor would ever get tested they’d be stuck there for 2 weeks in quarantine. They should never have stopped testing. Look at the data the week after the spike started.
What do you guys recommend? I am all for complying if I can get my money back on airline tickets and resort stays (Kauai: Hannalei Colony and Waimea Plantation) or better yet, delay another month (Currently, Oct 5-13).
Thank you so much.
Hi Babette.
The governor suggests you don’t come during the next two months. We don’t have a crystal ball and honestly just don’t know what is going to happen. If you are able to reschedule that would certainly seem to be the very best plan.
Aloha.
If Hawaii is open, people will come. Period. The Gov asking people not to travel to Hawaii is a complete and utter waste of breath. The Big Island Mayors request to reinstate pre-travel testing is under review … review of what? The pre-travel test program is not new, its a yes or no. How can there be legal restrictions when there were none before?
Thank you for keeping us informed
I’m just wondering there are some of us humans that can not have vaccines we should not be forced to do so .my body,my mind,my soul
And this testing. there are some of us that
Can not afford 300 dollars per test some of us Americans live on a low income and just want to go see our grandkids and family
If they are going to make testing mandatory the government should pay for it .
It just seems like this is all for people who have money to travel but not the rest of us normal folks. Some of us are willing to do the 10 day quarantine ill do 14 days and no some of us will not break that rule.
What is this country turning into…….
Thank you to all who have served and who are still serving bless you thank you and be safe ….Mahalo
So, what does a person do if scheduled 2 weeks on Kauai, starting mid September, past cancel date for lodging, $5000+ airline tickets, non refundable +/- $2000 for rental car??? Yes, I would love to heed the governor’s request, but cannot even afford to do that! HELP
Purchasing Trip Insurance should’ve been a priority, if you’re paying that much for everything.
If you read the fine print of most Trip Insurance Policies, pandemics are not covered. We found that out the hard way.
Aloha, I am in a similar predicament. I have rescheduled twice, which caused increased cost in airfare and I lost my original travel insurance, purchased it over again, but it covers you for a death in family, or if you actually catch covid. Not thinking this would be covered. It’s past cancel date for my lodging too. I don’t want to go and feel unwelcome, or end up with booked activities shut down. Can’t afford to lose my 2 weeks paid lodging. Such a predicament. We got fully vaccinated just to take this trip. We want to be considerate of the people of Hawaii, and of our hosts too. Mahalo for your advice.
Hi Carol.
Yes, it is a serious predicament all the way around. Repeating what we said to Babette, The governor suggests you don’t come during the next two months. We don’t have a crystal ball and honestly just don’t know what is going to happen or whether further restrictions could even be put in place. If you are able to reschedule that would certainly seem to be the very best plan.
Aloha.
$5000 airline tickets that are non-refundable, if you are willing to pay that during a worldwide pandemic it seems that you should be able to just forfeit it. It’s spent money so you could afford it apparently. You certainly have not paid for the car so that’s no loss. And, think of the money you will spend while in (always pricy) Hawaii. I’d suggest cutting your losses now.
Easy for you to say since you’re essentially anonymous, PM (no name)! Are you saying that if you purchased a new car (that you saved up years for), and the dealership said, “We’re just going to take your money and not give you a car”… that it wouldn’t be a hardship for people?! Yes, I get that loss of life is not involved.
For some of us, Hawaii is a Once-in-a-lifetime trip, or in our case, we were trying for “twice”. We were going to retrace our footsteps from our honeymoon 20 years ago. Just because we save up our money for 3 years, doesn’t mean we can just throw it all away and start over with nothing. I read many people on here saying, “I go to Hawaii all the time!” Maybe you should direct your comments to them. That is not the case for some of us. My husband and I are fully vaccinated and already signed up for the booster. We have been isolating, wearing masks, not gathering with family. We don’t eat indoors in restaurants. Haven’t spent a night away, let alone a vacation (last vacationed, 3 yrs ago) Have been doing all this for over a year. I’m shocked at how much of the country is disrespecting everyone everywhere by taking everyone’s lives so lightly… this is not just happening to HAWAII.
Against my better judgement, I scheduled this trip after the president told us all is well in July, “Take off your mask, travel, gather, and enjoy the 4th!”. I should’ve known better than to listen to He Who is Doing Little About This Pandemic.
What does this mean for schools? Universities in particular? My daughter is there at BYU Hawaii in Laie, do the number limits apply to classroom settings? Thank yoi
Hi Lorelle.
We don’t know the answer but suggest you check with the school directly.
Aloha.
This seems absolutely pointless. Especially if people are stuff with penalties for cancellation. We have a DVC membership and reservations for aulani. If I cancelled now, I’d lose the points. Without the government forcing it, some people won’t have the ability to cancel.
Make sure you check with your program on refunds. We were able to be fully refunded due to Covid. Many businesses, rental cars, etc. are refunding without penalties. If you cannot get a full refund, I would suggest rescheduling further out. That was also an option given to us. We never ever purchased insurance until this year. With so much unpredictable scenarios we decided to pay the extra for insurance. Good luck.
Thank you for the update. Oahu family and I keep trying to visit. 3rd try in 2 years. Aloha will wait for now. Being smart on the mainland. Being smart in the islands. Alpha Nui Loa.
We leave 3 weeks from today for Kaua’i. Is he going to reimburse us for our prepaid, non-refundable at this point condo reservation?
Yep… this. Exactly this.
SWA should be the first to pull way back…nothing personal but they have flooded the market in their efforts to break in to Hawaii…..
Thank you for the summary of today’s press conference. We are scheduled to travel in a few weeks to see family on Kauai and while we understand the Governor’s request and want to respect the wishes of the residents, it is too short notice to get refunds with just a government “request” (especially since we used a flight ticket from a 2020 covid-canceled trip). We’ve already gone into our own “lockdown” mode and are wearing masks when we do have to go out in order to ensure we travel virus free but I don’t think we’ll be able to cancel without losing a significant amount of money. It’s a tough situation.
Please stay home! We know it is inconvenient for many of you but it is the right thing to do
My wife and I are coming to Hawaii at the end of September to the big island. I m sorry, but I am not going to cancel our vacation. It is not my fault that the State of Hawaii has a substandard medical system and some of their residents choose not to get vaccinated. Since NY got rid of Cuomo and we here in CA hope to get rid of Newsom, maybe Hawaii should dump their imcompetent Governor as well. I am tired of those of us who are vaccinated being scapegoated and blamed for events that we had nothing to do with.
Yes staying home should be the thing to do.
Why book trips or rebook trips during a pandemic.???
Life and health is more important than a trip.
Always another flight or lodging etc .
We are not planning any trip any where until it is safe.
people traveling every where is why we are back where we are now.
Many many vaccinated people are getting sick and transmitting the covid to other travelers.
I would not want to experience PARADISE when it i s not like pre pandemic PARADISE.
it will be back let the islands recover.life and health is number 1 .
Dear Erika, I decided last week to postpone my April 2022 trip until 2023 because I just don’t feel comfortable traveling right now with the cases so high. I’ve waited all my life to come to Hawaii for my dream vacation trip, so what is alittle more time?! 🐢🐠🌺🌸🍍🥥🌏🛩🌈⛱🌊🌞🕶🩱🩴👒📅
This guy gets it.
nope. This will only destroy Hawaiian Airlines. All the other airlines are so large they can eat the Hawaii downturn.
In the end the State will have the same Covid end result but have destroyed the economy and its local airline.
This will allow SWA to take over Hawaii.
Enjoy the bed you’ve made Ige, Green et all
Yep, destroys economy, lives,.. Another problem: Since it is not a mandate, just a “suggestion”… Responsible people doing all the right things and not spreading covid, will comply and stay home. Those that have been irresponsible and doing whatever they want… (How many of you know people who refuse to get vaccinated, or wear a mask, or social distance, not go to weddings/funerals/parties/movies/restaurants/concerts, etc.?) … those are the people who are still going to show up in Hawaii. Seems like there could be a better option.