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Hawaii Travel Upheaval: Stakeholders Livid As Adversaries Now Concur

More changes afoot as financial meltdown ensues.

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526 thoughts on “Hawaii Travel Upheaval: Stakeholders Livid As Adversaries Now Concur”

  1. Aloha. I am going to Kona from Mainland Monday, got my free test at Walgreens Friday. Sucks if I don’t have results before final leg, will let u know what happens. Mahalo for keeping us informed.

  2. We have gone to kauai several times through the years. Our newlywed daughter and her husband are planning on going in February and we have reservations for April. Not sure about either trip now.

  3. We have cancelled 3 trips to Kauai this year, the last being due to not receiving one of two negative covid tests in time. It’s a total mess on Kauai with the Mayor establishing protocol based on fear and paranoia perpetrated by his mostly visitor hating supporters. The anti white visitor atmosphere is rampant on Kauai evident by the comments posted in social media. Its obvious this is what is driving the decisions made by the Mayor, rather than hard science. We are just not any glam tourists. We are former 30 year residents with family there. Hawaii is not so different from many of the other blue states in that it has a high cost of living, high taxes and a dictatorial style government. It needs to decide if it wants to be an economic powerhouse it has the potential to be and provide a vibrant lifestyle for residents or wallow around in just above 3rd world territory. Time is running out.

  4. I’ve taken my wife to Maui twice but that’s the only Hawaiian island she has seen. She’s dying to see Kauai so we had a trip planned for December 2020, booked before COVID hit. last summer we pushed the trip off to April 2021 hoping things would be better then. But with the latest news Kauai’s shutdown we’ve canceled the entire thing altogether. Bitterly disappointed. We would have kept the trip with the testing requirements from last month or still in place. But with politicians bickering and changing rules at a whim why mess with it? “Resort bubble” with ankle bracelets? You’ve got to be kidding. I can stay in a hotel room anywhere. Now I wonder what shape the island will be in when we do make the trip at some point in the future

  5. I just canceled all my flights to Hawaii. I am still in process of canceling the resorts. I was coming for a 2 week vacation to Honolulu, Kauai, and the big Island. Won’t be coming at all. I am very disappointed.

  6. The decisions being made are driven by limited medical capacity? Set up medical ships like they did in NY. We have plenty of empty ports to dock them. Maybe limited capacity is not the real reason why we are turning the world away. The knee-jerk policy decisions being made are horrendous,and becoming an embarrassing moment in Hawaii’s history. Unless the intent is to turn back time 50 years in Hawaii. Then the plan is a huge success-
    Thanks

  7. I cancelled Oahu trip for 3rd time this week. I don’t want to risk infection of hawaiian s, we can go at a later date. People are selfish, people are dying.

  8. We are scheduled for a trip to Maui to visit my sister on Dec. 9th. With the current rules, we will not get on that plane without our test results. Unfortunately, by the time they come in, our 72 hour window may have expired. The current rules are almost impossible to comply with. If it weren’t for my sister, I would cancel our trip until Hawaii is ready. This has been very stressful! We live in Dallas and there is only 1 “approved” provider still participating in Hawaii’s pre-travel program since CVS and Quest dropped out.

  9. Although I was headed to Honolulu I feel uneasy about venturing to a state that doesn’t seem adequately prepared to welcome guests. If I want to travel to an island and be quarantined I can stay in New York and visit Rikers.

  10. We were booked to Kauai in a few weeks and so excited for it. When they announced the no pre-travel testing, we cancelled all Kauai reservations (luckily our VRBo host was understanding) and ended up booking again to Maui, where we have been 4 times already. Oh well, we really need Hawaii. It makes our hearts happy which is much overdue this year.

  11. We have plans to travel to Hawaii the beginning of January. What a confusing situation. We are not sure what the rules will be when it is time to travel. Should we cancel now or risk losing our investment in our lodging? What a time of uncertainty?

  12. No matter what system hawaii uses, it’s still the best state in the nation as far as covid-19 conserns.
    I want to come home…

  13. Nothing has been said about the arrival of visitors that have already had Covid?

    We have reservations for February at The Point At Poipu and are still holding out hope. We had a reservation in December that we canceled and fortunately got all our points back, but we weren’t sure that was going to happen. We have not booked our airline tickets until closer to time, depending on the Covid news.

  14. Would it be possible to fly covid positive tourists off of the island? Some kind of dedicated covid flight? This would at least prevent the small island hospitals from being overwhelmed.

  15. We are scheduled to arrive in Maui in January. Perfectly happy to take a pre-Covid test and another upon arrival. What I cannot handle is the possibility that results arrive 30 minutes too late and that requires a 14 day quarantine. I agree if they are a day or two late to quarantine until they come in, but 14 days is ridiculous if I followed requirements and the lab was behind. Haven’t cancelled yet but may have to do so. Mahalo.

    1. Hi Steve.

      There should be an update soon with regards to Hawaii changing rules for the circumstances you indicated.

      Aloha.

  16. Aloha BOH, we truly appreciate your updates. Because of the info you have been providing your readers, we were able to plan ahead and made changes to our original itinerary. We have cancelled our 3 week vacation to Kauai and Maui 2x then finally decided to cross off Kauai and just go to Maui. The ever changing rules made it too risky for us to visit Kauai. We got here in Maui last week and have been enjoying our time, resorts/rentals/businesses are always making sure guests are compliant with wearing masks and it’s easy to social distance on the beach since there are not too many people visiting right now. Hope to visit Kauai again next year. Mahalo

  17. My wife and I were originally scheduled to arrive last April and rescheduled to this upcoming January. Now we were forced to reschedule again and have done so for April 2021. We were disappointed but understanding of the concerns the mayor has related to limited resources in case of a peak in infection rates. We love the island and will never abandon it. We’ve been going there almost every year for a long time and will continue to do so. We are sympathetic to the people living on the island. Mahalo.

  18. While we were disappointed to be restricted from visiting Kauai, we did successfully rebook for a Maui stay. It’s a distance second choice for us, as we have been annual visitors to the Garden Island for over 20 years. My heart goes out, though, to the lovely locals in Kauai, whose welcoming and warmth always make our visit memorable. We’re hopeful things will soon improve, businesses can reopen and people can get back to work.

  19. We had plans to go to Kauai, but cancelled our trip all together. Hawaii seems to wish washy at the moment. Maybe winter is 2021, it will be better. Thanks!

  20. We cancelled a Maui trip that was to begin Dec3 account the changing height of the hurdles. We rescheduled to Jan8 but that is in jeopardy unless they reach a tenable process that doesn’t leave us locked in our room for 2 weeks.

  21. BOH, we are immensely grateful for the information you provide us. THANK YOU for taking all the time to gather and publish your daily update. We may not ‘like’ what we read, but we certainly ‘need’ to know it.

    Yesterday we cancelled a 4 week trip to Kauai, planning to arrive in mid February. This is the third planned trip we’ve cancelled in the past 6 months. Arriving mid August and early October 2020 were the previous ones.

    Traveling 6K miles for 3-4 weeks takes a fair bit of planning, and the incessant change in regulations by the political folks in both Oahu and Kauai really jumbles up any longer term plans. We’ve been coming to Kauai for our primary vacation for over 25 years. 2020 is the first time we’ve not contributed to the fragile economy and enjoyed the beautiful vistas. We are especially sad for all the great folks in the hospitality side who we’ve enjoyed meeting and getting to know. Our inconvenience is minor compared to their loss.

    Still hoping to make it in 2021, as we have reservations for mid April and again for Mid August. We may come twice if the ‘powers that be’ can settle on a program that makes visitation and the planning it requires a reality.

    Thank you again for your service.

    1. Hi Gary.

      Thank you! We hope that you and Kitty will be back again in April. Please let us know how it goes.

      Aloha.

  22. We travel to Oahu every March. We didn’t this year and planned on going in November, then December but keep postponing due to uncertainty.

  23. We were planning a family vacation to Hawaii, Kauai specifically, in January. Trying to coordinate the 72 hour test was going to be risky to begin with, coming from the middle of the country. However, with all the changes in requirements, we have opted to go to Mexico instead. Our hearts are broken, as we were so excited to share the beauty of Hawaii with our kids. I hope we are able to in the future. Thank you.

  24. We have rescheduled our Kauai month-long annual vacation from February to March in hopes that things will stabilize on the island by that time. However, if there is any quarantine requirement by then, we will cancel completely.

  25. We have plans to travel to Maui in June as a family of four. This will be my husband and my fourth trip there, feels like home to us. But all the stipulations are making us nervous to visit. It’s an expensive trip for us, and really don’t want to have to get there in quarantine the whole time. We like to go to the beaches, drive the road to Hana etc. afraid a lot of the little local places that we enjoy going to simply won’t exist anymore. I am a small business owner (salon with 8 stylists) we had to shut down for five weeks back in April. It is tough, and so my heart goes out to the small business owners. We were able to go back to work in May and I’ve been doing fine ever since, but some businesses simply can’t recover. I understand we need to protect the community and keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed. But just makes it extra hard for the tourists to decide just how many hoops they are willing to jump through and risk financially. I am however OK with it looking a little bit different when we get there. Less crowded beaches, laid back. My thoughts go out to all of you who own a business, run a tour business, whose livelihoods have been affected. Well wishes to all from the heart of the mainland in Nebraska.

  26. Was scheduled for 10 days on Maui. Now canceled and stuck with airline credit. We love Hawaii and have travel there for 10 day stays for the last 20 years. We are now focus travel on Mexico and Belize. We blame Hawaiian politicians. So sad government is destroying local businesses and hurting families. The politicians and government employees are all still getting paid. Thanks

    1. Very well said Ron G. The covid just magnified all the negative things about hawaii. I think those are nice destinations you are considering. I used to live in hawaii but just felt the situation was deteriorating by the day there. Even more frustrating the government and residents wont work together ir do anything to house the homeless. And its only growing in numbers.

      I like parts of Florida and want to explore the us virgin islands someday. St john is Really nice i think. Don’t feel like your missing out on hawaii if you go to one of those places on your list or mine. All are nice

  27. We planned a vacation with our office staff and family, a very expensive 2 week stay, economic value to Kauai about $15,000… we cancelled due to the political kaos your island has….burning down the village to save the people is insane. Enjoy your Democratic party run government, they’ll own you all in short time, you have no freedoms left. We have loved your island for many years. We’ll look for a more inviting destination. Good luck Kauai.

  28. The state of Hawaii placed my guess and therefore me in quarantine for our 7 day vacation because they would not accept 2 negative covid test results performed by the state of Rhode Island. It is complete ludicrous to assume that your trusted testing partners run exactly the same everywhere. Why are you trusting retail establishments for lab test? Shouldn’t it be the labs? I left in 24 hours and went someplace I was welcomed. I will never go back.

  29. Canceled 2 week trip to Kauai and will extend Oahu to 3 weeks. Still hoping to visit Hānai Ohana after Holidays. Being told by friends on Oahu it is all politics on Kauai and once the Holidays are over, the spotlight will move and Kauai will go back to safe travels. Apparently the couple from Wailua who were arrested for reckless endangerment have weakened the mayor’s claim it is about stopping visitors. Let’s see. I just feel for ordinary folks who are thrown out of work before the holidays which should be a joyous time of year. Especially if it is all about gatheing votes for the next election, as I am led to believe. Stay Safe everyone on Kaua’i.

  30. As it looks like a vaccine will start becoming available, how will that play into island travel & quarantines? What proof will be required of being vaccinated? Will proof of vaccination be disregarded as an acceptable alternative to covid testing?

  31. You have the right to travel. The supreme court ruled twenty years ago on this.no test, no papers this is America quests what you are part of it. Obey the Constitution

  32. Morning, thank you for your great service. Our family did cancel our two week vacation which was scheduled fir Mid January. We canceled because of the sudden shut down on Kauai, although we were staying on the Big Island. The fear that policies could change so quickly with such short notice would leave us with no vacation. We will miss this opportunity as we may never get back with our adult children. My guy and I came for the first time in January 2019, second honeymoon. And loved it so that we wanted to share it with them. God Bless you all,

  33. Very frustrating, was hoping to go to Hawaii with family of 6 last summer and now this summer, but too much inconsistency and mind changing doesn’t sound worth the effort to come this year, especially if visitors are treated badly and things won’t be open.

  34. We are going to Maui Jan 2 – Feb 5. We are going to proceed with this plan. We live in Montana and Hawaii approved testing is not easily available. Going to Seattle 2 days early to accommodate testing. I appreciate your article. Thank you for the info! Aloha!

  35. We are going to Honolulu for Christmas and New Year’s for two weeks. We will arrive on December 18. We are visiting our family who live there. We are concerned that the rapid testing we take is required 24 or 72 hours prior to our arrival? It’s not completely clear. We will have the testing done, uploaded and in hand prior to boarding the airplane and arrival in Honolulu. We pray that this will be sufficient and we will not have to quarantine otherwise will turn around and come right back. We’re staying at two different resorts and spending a lot of money. I hope Hawaii, the governor, and the mayor understand that we want to visit and support Hawaii and would not come if we were sick. The lack of cooperation between government branches is very troubling. My heart goes out to Islanders who are suffering as a result of this.

  36. Yes we canceled our trip to Maui would have arrived Sunday Dec 6th. Just to many last minute changes in Hawaii & uncertainty. We will wait for now but will be back to enjoy beautiful Maui & wonderful people who live there. We wish you the best & please be Safe & Wear your Masks its to protect everyone please.

  37. We love Kauai and wanted to move back this year. With what we have been reading and hearing from friends there breaks our hearts. Not sure if we can ever return even if just for a vacation.

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