Maui has great resorts and an improved airport with the most flights (including widebody) to Hawaii other than Honolulu. But now it has clearly become too much of a good thing. So what happens next?
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306 thoughts on “Maui Visitors and Residents Square Off Starting Here”
The towns with retail shops and restaurants are there because of the employees, many of whom work for a minimum wage. Their free access to parking must be protected to ensure the survival, vitality, and continuation of those iconic Maui destinations.
We should not be catering to a bunch of entitled mainlanders. They have no problem spending thousands of dollars on flights and hotels and other things. $30 is pocket change for them. The overcrowding is out of control. Residents first. Thanks
OK I am one of those tourist that came to Hawaii, saved for 3 years so I could bring my daughter and a friend that had breast cancer at the time, The friend is no longer with us. But to be able to take them to a place they wanted so much to see and feel the aloha spirit was incredible. We treated the people and the land with respect. To lump all tourist in the same pot is not fair, it would be the same if we lumped all Islander in the same pot. This is not a problem that can be fixed overnight. but there needs to be community, discussion and where there is give and take from both sides. I am not a wealthy person, parking for your rental car at the hotel plus beach parking would cost more than the car rental itself. Just take time to think t
You can park free on the beaches as long as you have some tarps and a wrecked car.
Here’s a novel idea. Use the parking funds Solely to pay to expand the parking in these congested areas so more parking is eventually available to all
Start a lottery for all non residents that want to come to the islands.
Establish a quota per day that allows for an enjoyable experience for all!
Walt Disney implemented this idea at Disneyland and would only allow a certain number of people in the park at one time
I have lived in Hawaii for 45 years and it’s time we recognize the need for a new approach that addresses the root of the problem
Parking meters mainland style in the islands meh !
Although I understand beach parking (I live in a beach area in Calif), I do not think it’s fair to charge only visitors and not residents. Like Disneyland, maybe give residents a discount but to not charge them at all isn’t right. I am an huge traveler and love coming to Maui, but there’s plenty of places in the world to visit and this could turn off travelers that come to Maui and spend a lot of money. To say If someone can afford to come to Maui they should be able to pay for parking is ridiculous. If people go to the beach more than one day it can become quite an extra expense and a lot of people can barely afford to take their family on a vacation to Hawaii as it is. For me it’s the principle and not just the money. Not cool with this.
I think this is wonderful. Saturday mornings. Trying to go to the beach is ridiculous.. we have had days where we try two to threw beaches before we can find one with parking. 90% of the vehicles are tourists. Living here on island we should have access and without paying..
The plan to charge one group of people, but not others is not well thought out. This is a version of protective a tariff, which has been proven to be bad for everyone.
Let’s charge Maui residence an extra $200 to fly to Las Vegas. If they can afford to vacation in Las Vegas, they can afford the extra fee.
See where this can lead?
Further, if Maui’s economy has become reliant on tourism, that is the fault of Maui’s business leaders, not the tourists.
Did anyone ever consider diversifying the economy? Oh, I’m sorry. That might require some intelligent thinking. Thank you
This long overdue, paid parking for a maximum of 2 hours is the way to go. Do not do 30 days all day parking as that will resolve nothing.
“make everyone happy” LOL. Just trying to enforce the parking rules will be a difficult affair. Looks to me, that the overall cost of coming to Hawaii is going to control the total number of visitors to the islands.
Aloha