You’ll love this current look back and update on what has happened to Hawaii travel.
76 thoughts on “The Path From Zero to 💯 As Hawaii Travel Hits New Records”
Comments are closed.
You’ll love this current look back and update on what has happened to Hawaii travel.
Comments are closed.
Visitor-less Hawaii has happened before——-such as on Kauai’I for a few years after Hurricane Iniki (yes I spent part of my vacation there at that time. During that lull in tourism, you could roll a bowling ball through the Lihue Airport terminal and not come close to hitting anyone. Just don’t forget the late Don Ho’s perspective on Hawaii tourism: Its not just the rain that keeps Hawaii green.
The environmental impact of over-tourism is very easy to see; from plastic lids, bottles and straws on shorelines and roadsides, to overcrowded beaches and “snorkeling” destinations. Traffic jams, and crowded stores. It is a shame what is happening to Hawaii, but the Mayors and Governor look the other way at the destruction of one of the most beautiful places on the planet to bow to the tourboat operators, giant hotels, and other tourist centered businesses. Nobody seems to realize that Hawaii is slowly degrading. The state government has chosen quantity over quality with numbers of tourists vs. quality of visitors which effects the quality of life here for every resident and every creature. The state of Hawaii sold out to tourism long ago, but what is happening now will forever change these islands. “Paradise lost” has never been so obvious, or true. Just ask anyone who grew up here, or has been here long enough to see Hawaii’s decline. Many towns and places are resembling Disneyland more than the most beautiful place on Earth. Hawaii government and chamber of commerce are addicted to tourism, and just like any addict they cannot see that it’s killing themselves and taking the rest of us with them!
Thank you Beat of Hawaii and safe travel. We are here on the Big Island and are having a great time. No shortage of cars, they have plenty they told up and I even got to pick one out I wanted. Everyone one is so friendly and happy to see us all visiting. We even got a reservation to see Henry Kapono sing at our hotel. We still wear a mask on hotel property and in stores which is fine with us. Love the Islands. Thank You
Hi Beverly.
We appreciate your input. Enjoy your time on the B.I.
Aloha.
I luv this article! I sums up a perfect timeline and explains a lot of anxiety today for those who live here! In May of 2020, since I could only swim in the ocean. I decided that this was a historical time to drive and quickly take pictures of every beach in west side Maui with no one on them! I will treasure these moments forever. I believe in tourism but for any place it’s way too much now. There has to be some sort of state limitation for our environment to survive!
Hi Lou.
Thank you for this and for your other comments.
Aloha.
I will be going in August. I am so excited to go to Hawaii with my sister for her birthday. We have been planning our trip since March and planning this trip has made us closer. Just got my vaccination card put on Safe Travels this morning. Just one step closer to our vacation.
Aloha Kathy, have a safe,fun, wonderful trip with your sister!! 🌎✈🌞🌈⛱🌊 I’m planning my lifelong dream vacation trip to Oahu next year! I’m getting very excited & can’t wait:)♡♡ God bless you! Psalms 91:11
Thank you Andrea! Have a great trip to Oahu! God bless you as well! Have a wonderful weekend.
Mahalos for a great glimpse at our recent history!
Re-opening is a real mixed bag. Without tourism, Hawai’i residents were offered the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of their home undisturbed. This probably sounds like nothing special to people whose communities aren’t normally overrun with loud, disrespectful, disruptive outsiders – but for everyone in Hawai’i (including animals, ocean, air, and aina), time-out for tourists and trespassers was a rare glimpse of an intoxicating peace. To be fair, for many locals this experience was tainted by a loss of tourism-related income. Despite the hardships, many folks in Hawai’i would welcome a return to that peace, and this time would feel better prepared for it.
The silver linings of COVID-19 have been more than just a brief experience of a more peaceful Hawai’i; there have been resurgences in nature, a renewed recognition of the importance of ohana, and a widely shared acknowledgement that Hawai’i’s economy must diversify, must rely less on tourism in order to build the resilience needed to ride out the next storm, whatever form that storm takes. At last, the tragically low wages of a hospitality economy are being seriously questioned. And despite the best attempts of politicians on the continent to create division, mistrust, and even hatred among people, many Hawai’i locals realized a shared struggle and camaraderie with their neighbors.
As you so rightly say, it feels like zero to a hundred overnight. Like being woken by a hair dryer. Like someone throwing a firework onto your lanai. In time tourists will have travel options beyond Hawai’i, and will then be able to vent their quarantine frustrations somewhere else. Hawai’i locals may grudgingly, eventually, become accustomed again to repairing tourist damage, to picking up tourist trash, to smiling through tourist abuse, to seeing Hawai’i treated like a theme park. But let’s all learn and do better.
Hi Robbos.
Thanks for your comments over the past couple of years and for your input on this unprecedented situation.
Aloha.
We are planning trip to Waikiki Jan 1 — I cannot find travel requirements for Canadians travelling to Hawaii — we both have had two shots of vaccine — and would like to be sure we have all requirements covered for flights direct Vancouver to Honolulu — any info our Hawaii sites would be appreciated.
Don
Hi Don.
Nothing has changed for Canadians so far. The current requirement is to comply with the Safe Travels testing protocol. We’ll update you as soon as that changes.
Aloha
I arrived to Maui in Nov 2020. Masks required everywhere, even sitting ocean front with the two people I traveled with, trade winds blowing and no on one within 20 feet of us. But no traffic and restaurants that were open very welcoming to visitors, with one exception. Over Christmas and New Years the mask at ocean front and pool side was revised, thank goodness!! Restaurants more open. Visited again in May 2021 and many more visitors, hard to get dining reservations, more traffic. Was happy to see stores and restaurants doing better. More options open than Dec/Jan. So yes, I’ll be back 😉 again and again. Thank you for your updates through COVID, related to the islands. I often read the update here before I found it anywhere else. Aloha!
Hi Kathleen.
Thank you. Happy to hear the reporting on your Hawaii travels and glad you will be back.
Aloha.
Dear Kathleen, I’m planning my life long dream vacation trip to Oahu next year and I’m getting very excited!! Can’t wait♡♡🌍🌊⛱🌈🌞✈🐋🐢🐠🌺 God bless you! Psalms 91:11
Your Beat of Hawaii updates have been great the past year. No other publication was able to help explain all the details about “everything” than your site. Mahalo from a California and Kaua’i resident! Looking forward to finally getting back to my Kaua’i home in November.
Hi Scott.
Thank you! We appreciate you being a part of the conversation and the many comments.
Aloha.
We traveled to Maui May 7-15, 2021. We stayed in a beachfront condo in Lahaina and found the same Hawaiian hospitality as before (:
At that time, although vaccinated, we had to do the 72 hr ahead of arrival testing, but that was no problem! United Airlines streamlined the arrival process with their wristband program in LA. We live in Florida, which has been an open door state thru pretty much all of Covid. We saw many tourists/new summer season snowbirds that escaped NYC and other more restrictive states and brought Covid with them to our state and hospitals. We totally understood Hawaii’s restrictions! We are also glad to have booked a great car-included package back in Feb., tho’, as we saw our condo, flight and car price now skyrocket. (We couldn’t afford that same trip now). We will definitely be back when overseas travel returns and stabilizes your (and everywhere’s) prices. Hawaii has become the Europe alternative right now, But hooray for your beautiful state and your recovery economy! Aloha!