Global news outlets raise big concerns for Hawaii visitors.
456 thoughts on “Hawaii Public Relations Nightmare as Media Frenzy Fuels Unrest”
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I’m hoping to be back September 1st if timeshares + restaurants are open again. Perhaps I’m naïve but I’m believing that everyone will be nice and welcoming.
I think the discord is caused by the unthinking/unbelieving visitors who believe nothing applies to them – only others stupid enough to believe the rules. Residents are most likely concerned that their health care system could not handle what is happening in a few places. And as can be seen from the data in Hawaii – it is pretty surely being brought to the islands by visitors – the numbers have been pretty down low during the shutdown.
The cultures there also have multi-generational family units (probably more so than mainland), so automatically the elders are at higher risk. Tourists bring vi rus and expose anyone who is part of tourism (hotels, tours, restaurants, luaus to name a few).
Anyone who knows a bit of Hawaiian history, should know that the missionaries brought many diseases to the islands and wiped out thousands of natives. I imagine this is in the minds of many residents as well.
This is not a conspiracy or power play by whoever – it is being played out all over the world. And the rules/laws apply to everyone.
As always – not all visitors are the same. And not all residents are the same. And things are difficult for everyone.
I’m hoping to see and experience the same Aloha feeling on return.
Well said and we agree as residents of Hawai’i Island.
Aloha, does that mean anything anymore? To be honest, I started to feel unwelcome and hurt by some of the comments by native hawaiians during the TMT protests,this whole notion about a sovereign nation and how the United States stole the land from Hawaiians,I’m all for celebrating local culture and embracing your roots, but Hawaii is part of the United States, and to block a scientific gift which has the potential to help humanity over some local superstition was ridiculous, this was the perfect example of diversifying the economy. My mother was born in Hawaii and I lived there as a child, it’s always been a special place to me, I’ve felt that I was home every time that I’ve returned,but to hear the local cry of yankee go home now, Cabo is looking a lot more welcoming to me, and more affordable.
It is very sad that it has to come to this, but I think it was entirely predictable. What you are seeing is partly a huge hangover among us Kamaaina from the effects of unrestrained overt tourism for so many years.
Last year, long before this emerged, I witnessed an interesting small scene. One of our well known kupuna, an internationally known Kumu Hula, was unusually excited, walking hurriedly while shaking his head, screaming at people. “Tourists go home. You are killing our aina.” Our quiet little Hilo town, where all long time residents used to know every face, was swarming with cruise ship passengers, rental cars, and vaca rental guests. There seemingly was a realtor sign on every beach house.
There was a sense, building over years, that unrestrained tourism and real estate dealing was eating our soul
The decisions have already been made. When we purchased a timeshare on the Big Island, when we rented an apartment on Maui and paid in advance, our plans were set. You accepted our money. The State government took our tax dollars. We worked all year to go on a 2 week vacation to Hawaii. Now, we can’t go and enjoy ourselves? Let me remind all of you and especially the Gov. Ige. Hawaii is a State. Part of the USA. It has been since I was a young child. So Hawaii is subject to the laws of the USA. And you can have emergency orders for disasters. But this is not an excuse to have a referendum on tourism. That ship has sailed. Extending the Stay out of Hawaii order for mainlanders is way beyond the authority of the Governor and the State Legislature. If this continues, there will be more than bad press. People will want refunds on timeshares, hotel deposits, and plane tickets. Eventually the real estate market will crash and people will want refunds on their property investments (losses). Local businesses will fail, restaurants will close permanently, stores will be empty. Tax base will shrink and there will be no money for schools,police,roads or hospitals. And then the lawsuits will follow. No one in their right mind wants any of this. But many have not thought about it. Hawaii is at a turning point. You can choose to recover or you can let this destroy your way of life for a long time to come.
Long time reader, first time commenter: Thank you for your honest reporting and coverage of this issue. We used to visit Kauai annually, but missed a year after our son was born. We were planning on coming back once he is old enough to start remembering a little, maybe in 2021. However, even if we could come now, we wouldn’t until we knew it was safe for the beautiful island and people who host us for us to do so. We also wouldn’t be able to come, quar antine in a hotel room for 14 days, then enjoy our trip (that’s too expensive, too hard to plan as a nonresident, and too much time off work), but being required to be tested before coming and/or on arrival (with short quar antine until test result) would be feasible and a more than reasonable request when lives are at stake. My sense of convenience and preference should not outweigh someone else’s chance to live another day on this planet. The best thing of all will be for Hawaii to have that screening capacity to minimally inconvenience guests (and there will have to be an inconvenience), but to effectively control risk. And as for traveling elsewhere, well, there’s simply no place on Earth like Kauai.
Hi Ben.
Thanks for being a long time reader, and we appreciate your comment.
Aloha.
I promised my kids the other day as soon as this is over and travel restrictions are lifted, the first place we are going is Hawaii. Hawaii is, and has always been a special place for me and now for my children. We can’t wait to get back.
After visiting the islands 7x in my lifetime , we took a 7 year break after being unable to travel due to blood clotting issues.
We voluntarily canceled our May trip to Florida due to the dangers of traveling that early in this. We figured we’d go somewhere in August right before our son went back to college, so we looked at Kauai airfare and were so pleased to find the very low fares. We figured the quar antine would be over by June or July latest. To hear that your state with zero active cases could extend that continually and ruin our dream vacation and cost us so much money was very upsetting, saddening and angering. These unreasonable measures go way beyond caution and scientific advice. They’re openly hostile to visitors. Test us before going on the plane from the mainland but don’t force us to stay locked in a room 14 days or cancel again. Sadly we will never ever return to our dream island if you disrespect visitors that much. There are many other tropical places that welcome visitors in safe ways. We hope you truly think about the repercussions of extreme anti tourist actions . You will lose many regulars forever.
My husband and I can’t wait to get back to Hawaii. Our Hawaiian cruise Was cancelled March 14 but we were able to reschedule it for September. Can’t wait 🌴
Aloha
Hi Janet.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Aloha,
As a frequent visitor since 1984,and having almost always felt welcome and respected, I am so sad about everything that has negatively affected Kauai. That includes the terrible floods and damage of recent years and subsequent consequences to the economy. We, as a family, have always been low-impact and respectful visitors to the North Shore…and recently I have been visiting solo in the Poipu area, where I have felt safe as an older woman traveling alone.
I understand the reasoning behind the hostility and negative attitude towards non-residents at this time. However, we will sadly not be returning in the near future until we feel comfortable and welcome by the island in general. We have moved our July Hanalei vacation rental to next summer 2021, thanks to cooperative Parrish Collection manager, and hopefully the world will be a friendlier place by then.
Blessings and aloha to all of you from everyone who dearly wishes to be part of the solution, not the problem.
Hi Suzanne.
Thank you.
Aloha.
Thank you for this discussion. I posted a few weeks ago that the Stanford and USC studies were good news that this is not very deadly. Since then you have completely changed my mind. Hawaii should not reopen until there is a vac cine. There are simply not enough ICU beds and ventilators. “We are all in this together”. “Stay away to save lives”. I love what the VASH- Visitor Aloha Society Hawaii is doing to track down visitors that don’t comply and sending them back where they came from. Please stick to your principles and save lives. Even one life lost to this is too many. “Stay home, Stay safe”. A vac cine should take less than two years.
Hi Rob.
Thanks.
Aloha.
2 years without 80% of your economy will cause unthinkable devastation to your economy permanently . You don’t need to abandon health to safely open up the economy. There has to be a reasonable balance . Test people as they get to airport , don’t just close off your island 2 years.
Even one life lost is too many? People die every day. They die from disease, auto crashes, crime, and old age. Some of these are preventible and some are not. But we still drive cars, and smoke Cigarettes and many other danger activities. A vac cine will never be 100% effective. We have a flu vac cine now that is updated every year. Yet only about half of Americans get the flu shot. And close to 30,000 people in the USA die every year from the common flu. So You want Hawaii to stay closed until there are no more deaths? Seems kind of silly now doesn’t it?