With Hawaii struggling to recover, airlines are adjusting their routes. Are you still visiting Hawaii, or is your absence part of the problem that airlines must adjust to?
With Hawaii struggling to recover, airlines are adjusting their routes. Are you still visiting Hawaii, or is your absence part of the problem that airlines must adjust to?
Aloha! I remember that not too long ago the sentiment transmitted was that Hawaii wanted a “different,” more affluent visitor and reduced numbers overall. Then shortly after, hotel and VRBO rentals skyrocketed in price and have stayed very elevated since. Visitor ‘surcharges’ were added and capacity controls to various tourist sites. Remember $99 to $149 airfares? Mostly gone. Who can afford all this? A ‘different,’ more affluent visitor which is exactly what was desired all along, with the corresponding reduced visitor numbers. Mission accomplished. My wife and I have shifted to Europe for our vacations the last three years, and most likely won’t be back to Hawaii until 2026. Mahalo for your efforts with your blog!
Good luck Hawaii. Upscale doesn’t necessarily mean desirable. Mostly I call those travelers entitled. They seem to feel entitled to demanding everyone bow & jump to their every whim. Expect others to pick up after them & generally leave a location worse than they found it. Be careful what you wish for.
I couldn’t agree more Brenda. I found comments about rich tourists being more desirable hilarious. I’ve been to Hawaii numerous times over the last 2 decades and it’s always the rich entitled tourists that cause the most friction with locals. If that’s what they want they can have them. They won’t make up for a 20-30% decrease in total visitation and the revenue that brings. It is already turning into a vicious cycle where fees and taxes are increasing to unsustainable rates. Eventually the rich won’t go there either when it gets too outrageous. The rich didn’t get rich by being frivolous with their money. They will start going to other places too where they get more for their dollar. The local hawaiian govt with their phony altruism while being in the pocket of the hotel lobbyists are 100% to blame for the coming economic crisis we are seeing the beginnings of now. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, especially at the beginning of a major recession.
1. Not visiting Maui.
2. Our absence, yes, along with the many others, must be contributing to the “problem.”
I hate being snarky but I can sum it up in one word: Karma
I love Hawaii, and I enjoy the time I get to spend there, but I feel the politicians, and particularly the ethnic Hawaiians hate tourists, and don’t understand the economy only has two industries, military and tourism. I’ve had Asians thank me for visiting, but never heard once has a native thanked me, in fact I’ve been yelled at by them. Compared to Tahiti where I’ve had native Polynesians thank me for visiting
Last Friday the Hawaii government announced a 4 Billion dollar payout for Maui fire victims. After a year, no accountability for those responsible for 102 deaths. Gov Bissen, Mayor Green, and Chief Pelletier still collect their government paychecks. Tourists will indirectly pay the higher utility rates, taxes, and fees required by the failure of leadership in Hawaii. Sad state. No justice for the families of the deceased.
The fact that the settlement was reached in less than a year is a miracle in and of itself. This could have dragged on for years with no one getting any kind of justice. The governor and those named in the suit deserve some credit for that.
Thank you gentlemen for your constant updates. We have been visiting Maui regularly for 40 years and are going again in January. So far we have never experienced anything negative from the locals. Always kindness and a smile. You receive what you give. Do you know what days HA is cutting out of Oakland? I have purchased our tickets and I am hoping we don’t get the sorry that day has been canceled email. Mahalo
Excuse me if I’m wrong but it seems there is alot of hand wringing about flights , schedule changes / reductions and flight costs where I think the major issue is not getting there so much as being able to afford staying there !! I’d be more interested in any measures reduce the greed-flation that has gripped the islands …
Before you blame greed you might want to consider that property taxes on rentals have doubled over the past few years. Maui County added 3%. Then there are the GET and TAT taxes that have increased. Condo fees have not been immune to the inflation in the islands either.
The real villain is the County and state governments that have structurally destroyed the economy of Hawaii.
Thank Governor Green an the mayor off Maui for this, in thier efforts to slow down and detour tourists, you’ve done a great job! Struggling as a STVR owner, I have not 1 booking for August or September, also thanks for upping my property taxes 7 times from a year ago, normal locals can’t afford 650 k for a house, and people can’t afford to stay in stupid hotel prices, You Really screwed our tourism up just so you could be in the pocket of hotel owners, Blame these brilliant idiots for our lack of tourism now😡
I amazing how out of touch the Hawaii governor and the Maui mayor are, they’re acting like business is booming and they can just mismanage the resources of the Islands. We are seeing the results of the mismanagement now and in the past year. It’s great that California and Nevada are welcoming all the Hawaiians moving there for jobs and housing, something Hawaii just can’t seem provide for it’s residents.
Hello BOH
Can you confirm, is Hawaiian upgrading the SMF to HNL route to wide bodied aircraft now? Assuming it is not SMF to KOA that is being upgraded?
Thanks!
To answer your last question, which was a tad on the snarky side….after 40 years of coming to the islands at least once per year, the past 3 years we have opted to go elsewhere. The question insinuates that “we and people like us” are the “problem” that caused the airlines to make the adjustments. I beg to differ. The airlines need only look as far as the governing bodies of Hawaii to figure out why people like us are no longer coming and forcing them to adjust their routes. Perhaps if the airlines put as much effort in to bribing the elected officials as the hotel industry has, things would look much different for all involved right now.
My son is on Kauai now. Waited one hour before even getting utensils on the table at Princeville Westin. Food not what is expected for cost. His cabana was not available, resort booked it for the previous day. No apology. Said they would not charge him a no show fee !
He says he will not be returning
I will be on Maui for two weeks at Westin Ka’anapali in October. We’ll see how that goes
We no longer take our twice a year trip to the islands. Message received , not welcome
Aloha
We have gone every year to Maui for 15+years. We want to support the people of Maui. We are mindful of their losses and considerate with our words. The residents with whom we interact are always friendly and happy that we chose to return to Maui each year.
We used to travel to Wailea every year. We canceled last year for the obvious reason of the hotels needed for the unhoused fire victims and First Responders. This year, our chosen hotels had so drastically raised the prices that we opted for London instead. London was extremely expensive, but we didn’t feel it was a monopoly situation where corporations were trying to rip us off. We will see what the hotels have to offer next year and then decide. We have always been very respectful of the local hotel workers, merchants and servers, so I am not concerned about feeling welcome. We miss Maui and I am sure our tourist dollars are missed as well.
I may not be Hawaiian ethnically, but I was raised on Oahu, my brothers were born there. I was taught how to swim, I was taught the hula, and I was taught most Hawaiian words. I respect the old ways. My husband and I owned a little place on Kauai and his ashes float off the shore there. My kids are building on the BI but I am feeling shame at the lack of Aloha. I love the islands and will be visiting Maui for Thanksgiving, hoping not to be shunned. Aloha nui oe, Diane
We are making our second trip this year to Maui next week. We just booked our trip on Hawaiian Airlines with points for our trip next April 2025! Hope they keep that schedule from San Jose to Kahului! Our home airport is Reno so we need to spend a night in San Jose on the way to and from Maui. It’s worth the extra time because we just love Maui. Plus we usually use Bonvoy points so it’s not cash out of pocket. Our family and friends who join us might suffer because they usually fly SWA from LAX or Long Beach to join us.
We used to visit the Islands every year. No longer, thanks to rising costs. We travel Europe and Mexico now. We’re watching to see when and how this settles out over the next few years.
We visited Maui last year, and it was heartbreaking to see the impact of the wildfires. I hope tourism rebounds soon and helps their local economy recover!
How might these airline changes affect travel prices to Hawaii? Should we expect higher fares due to fewer flights?
Any idea what other routes might be getting cut?
Thank for keeping us in loop. Just hoping no cuts impact my upcoming fall trip to Maui.