This is a valid rich important question and statement. I for one experienced for months while reseraching Maui brutal social media posts that we are no longer welcome and should stay out. This was before the fire. I wish we knew what posts to believe. I know what sounds logical, but when our lives are threatened by certain posts, one wonders.
I agree that stopping tourism completely will have a severe impact on the economy. That being said, tourists who do still go thru with their vacations, will need to adjust accordingly. Pack a suitcase full of patience and empathy for what these residents are experiencing, open it immediately and use it liberally.
Once the recovery phase is over and they move to rebuilding, maybe there will be opportunities to offer a few days of your vacation to volunteer your services.
i am planning on visiting Maui at the end of December and attend the tournament of champions golf tournament at Kapalua.
my first question is, will the golf tournament at Kapalua be canceled?
Is there any fire damage in the Napili or Kapalua area?
I am constantly praying for the people of Maui.
I seriously doubt that the Tournament of Champions would be cancelled and I expect that by that time the chorus of “please return to West Maui and support the local economy” will be essentially unanimous. Of course all good people recognize the importance of respecting the important search and recovery work in Lahaina which must be carefully completed and I hope that we’re also able to acknowledge the importance of welcoming visitors back into west Maui to avoid an economic catastrophe. I own and manage 2 vacation rental properties in west Maui and I just got off the phone with the cleaner for one of them. She’s displaced from her (still standing) apartment in Lahaina and now staying in Ka’anapali and her daughter will be able to finish her senior year high school at Maui Prep in Napili. We had a good conversation with no cell reception problems and she was in surprisingly good spirits, describing how the community has come together so I take this as another indication of Maui’s strength. My other west Maui property is at the Honua Kai resort in Kaanapali, which has taken zero fire damage and my understanding is that there was no damage to Napili or Kapalua, which are miles away from Lahaina. 2 years ago my friends and I played the Plantation course the day after the pros finished and all the pins were in the same spots. Enjoy your stay in West Maui and thank you for supporting the local economy and the people of Maui by not cancelling your travel plans.
I live in the Lahaina; the devastation and suffering is enormous! While our local Kaanapali resorts gear up to serve the needs of those homeless from the fires, I think in the upcoming weeks or perhaps a month they will open up again for tourists as the hospitality industry & related jobs find its way amongst the recovery… I know many people who lost everything except their lives… many people are worried that if the tourism takes a drastic down turn on the West side, they will lose their jobs as the resorts cannot continue to pay them without guests. Most importantly, we honor the recovery efforts, as the dead have not been accounted for by any stretch of the imagination! I pray those trying to make a living and survive through this severe tragedy will not lose their livelihoods, as so, many have already …#MauiStrong
It is such a fine line. I do have clients that will be arriving Maui August 19th and they are staying in Wailea. My best find of information has said they are functioning and need the reservations. With great sadness and full respect for all of Maui that has experienced the most devasting disaster with horrific loss of life and property, I hope supporting the businesses that are able to keep operating might allow them to provide the help their neighbors are in dire need of.
It was understandable to discourage travel to the island during the days immediately following the fire. There was an immense strain on all resources across the island. The fire wasn’t completely out, there were other fires, traffic, staffing changes (people who lived in Lahaina didn’t necessarily work there), and I can only imagine stores and gas stations were impacted as residents gathered resources to donate to West Maui. Not to mention the complete devastation that many residents felt and carried with them in those first few, terrible days.
It’s hard to know what one Should do regarding travel. HTA doesn’t speak for all residents. A few individuals on social media do not speak for all residents. A few business owners do not speak for all residents. I would say, look at HTA for the foundational guidance.
I am cancelling a trip to visit a friend upcountry in September. I don’t mean to have a holier-than-thou attitude about it, but it just didn’t feel right to me, so I’m not going. If it feels right to you to continue your own trip to Maui, do as HTA says and contact your accommodations for more info (unless it was West Maui in which case it sounds like you’re out of luck through August). If you might be able to spare some funds for a donation toward Lahaina families or restoration efforts, that could be nice too.
I have a Hyatt timeshare (on the west side) reservation at the end of the month. Hyatt says I will have to pay a cancellation fee to cancel!!!!!! How terrible. Why isn’t Hyatt opening its facilities to the homeless? Why doesn’t the federal government rent the facility to house the homeless? Shame on Hyatt and shame on our government.
Perhaps you should listen to the Hawaiians who have been voicing their true feelings. Tourism accounts for only 25% of the income for Maui. Tourists are a drain on limited resources and further contributing to environmental issues that contributed to this fire
“…Tourists are a drain on limited resources and further contributing to environmental issues that contributed to this fire”
So now the tourists are responsible for the fire? Wow. Please explain?
And what percentage of the residents of Maui are saying that? Is it a majority, or is this a tyranny of a noisy minority thing?
Most people would not do well with a 25% cut in pay – I suspect that the island’s economy would not either.
I’d say it’s a very small but self centered faction that could care less about the well being of the people that have lost everything and they don’t care if they are unable to be employed and start the rebuilding process. Sadly they make up “facts” (25%) to support their version with how they want the world to be. So many people are heartbroken by this disaster and it’s a time to pull together, learn from, and recover.
We have friends who work in West Maui and live in Lahaina, so have lost everything except their jobs, which will be there once they are able to work again in West Maui. I have talked with them, mainly listened to them. Our hearts break for the loss of so many lives, livelihoods, homes, animals, land, historical and cultural artifacts.
We have owned a studio timeshare in West Maui for nearly 20 years and stay for several weeks in Jan/Feb. All of our plans for a Jan. 12 arrival have been made, and we hope to be permitted to follow through with them. While we send donations now, we want to do more – to support the businesses and to volunteer however we can.
There are a lot of us who love and respect the people, the culture and the land. We hope that our presence is not an intrusion, but proof of our loyalty to a place and a community that has given us so much.
My thoughts exactly, and what we plan to do when we return to West Maui in January as we have been doing for nearly 20 years.
This is a valid rich important question and statement. I for one experienced for months while reseraching Maui brutal social media posts that we are no longer welcome and should stay out. This was before the fire. I wish we knew what posts to believe. I know what sounds logical, but when our lives are threatened by certain posts, one wonders.
I agree that stopping tourism completely will have a severe impact on the economy. That being said, tourists who do still go thru with their vacations, will need to adjust accordingly. Pack a suitcase full of patience and empathy for what these residents are experiencing, open it immediately and use it liberally.
Once the recovery phase is over and they move to rebuilding, maybe there will be opportunities to offer a few days of your vacation to volunteer your services.
i am planning on visiting Maui at the end of December and attend the tournament of champions golf tournament at Kapalua.
my first question is, will the golf tournament at Kapalua be canceled?
Is there any fire damage in the Napili or Kapalua area?
I am constantly praying for the people of Maui.
I seriously doubt that the Tournament of Champions would be cancelled and I expect that by that time the chorus of “please return to West Maui and support the local economy” will be essentially unanimous. Of course all good people recognize the importance of respecting the important search and recovery work in Lahaina which must be carefully completed and I hope that we’re also able to acknowledge the importance of welcoming visitors back into west Maui to avoid an economic catastrophe. I own and manage 2 vacation rental properties in west Maui and I just got off the phone with the cleaner for one of them. She’s displaced from her (still standing) apartment in Lahaina and now staying in Ka’anapali and her daughter will be able to finish her senior year high school at Maui Prep in Napili. We had a good conversation with no cell reception problems and she was in surprisingly good spirits, describing how the community has come together so I take this as another indication of Maui’s strength. My other west Maui property is at the Honua Kai resort in Kaanapali, which has taken zero fire damage and my understanding is that there was no damage to Napili or Kapalua, which are miles away from Lahaina. 2 years ago my friends and I played the Plantation course the day after the pros finished and all the pins were in the same spots. Enjoy your stay in West Maui and thank you for supporting the local economy and the people of Maui by not cancelling your travel plans.
I live in the Lahaina; the devastation and suffering is enormous! While our local Kaanapali resorts gear up to serve the needs of those homeless from the fires, I think in the upcoming weeks or perhaps a month they will open up again for tourists as the hospitality industry & related jobs find its way amongst the recovery… I know many people who lost everything except their lives… many people are worried that if the tourism takes a drastic down turn on the West side, they will lose their jobs as the resorts cannot continue to pay them without guests. Most importantly, we honor the recovery efforts, as the dead have not been accounted for by any stretch of the imagination! I pray those trying to make a living and survive through this severe tragedy will not lose their livelihoods, as so, many have already …#MauiStrong
It is such a fine line. I do have clients that will be arriving Maui August 19th and they are staying in Wailea. My best find of information has said they are functioning and need the reservations. With great sadness and full respect for all of Maui that has experienced the most devasting disaster with horrific loss of life and property, I hope supporting the businesses that are able to keep operating might allow them to provide the help their neighbors are in dire need of.
It was understandable to discourage travel to the island during the days immediately following the fire. There was an immense strain on all resources across the island. The fire wasn’t completely out, there were other fires, traffic, staffing changes (people who lived in Lahaina didn’t necessarily work there), and I can only imagine stores and gas stations were impacted as residents gathered resources to donate to West Maui. Not to mention the complete devastation that many residents felt and carried with them in those first few, terrible days.
It’s hard to know what one Should do regarding travel. HTA doesn’t speak for all residents. A few individuals on social media do not speak for all residents. A few business owners do not speak for all residents. I would say, look at HTA for the foundational guidance.
I am cancelling a trip to visit a friend upcountry in September. I don’t mean to have a holier-than-thou attitude about it, but it just didn’t feel right to me, so I’m not going. If it feels right to you to continue your own trip to Maui, do as HTA says and contact your accommodations for more info (unless it was West Maui in which case it sounds like you’re out of luck through August). If you might be able to spare some funds for a donation toward Lahaina families or restoration efforts, that could be nice too.
I have a Hyatt timeshare (on the west side) reservation at the end of the month. Hyatt says I will have to pay a cancellation fee to cancel!!!!!! How terrible. Why isn’t Hyatt opening its facilities to the homeless? Why doesn’t the federal government rent the facility to house the homeless? Shame on Hyatt and shame on our government.
Perhaps you should listen to the Hawaiians who have been voicing their true feelings. Tourism accounts for only 25% of the income for Maui. Tourists are a drain on limited resources and further contributing to environmental issues that contributed to this fire
what you get that number 25%?
Yeah. Reuters and Time magazine have tourism as 80% of Maui economy (“according to the island’s economic development board”).
“…Tourists are a drain on limited resources and further contributing to environmental issues that contributed to this fire”
So now the tourists are responsible for the fire? Wow. Please explain?
And what percentage of the residents of Maui are saying that? Is it a majority, or is this a tyranny of a noisy minority thing?
Most people would not do well with a 25% cut in pay – I suspect that the island’s economy would not either.
I’d say it’s a very small but self centered faction that could care less about the well being of the people that have lost everything and they don’t care if they are unable to be employed and start the rebuilding process. Sadly they make up “facts” (25%) to support their version with how they want the world to be. So many people are heartbroken by this disaster and it’s a time to pull together, learn from, and recover.
From labor and statistics:
As of September 2021, tourism accounted for around 75-80% of Maui’s economy. The state of Hawaii hovers around 25%.
Nikki, these 25 percent numbers are wrong, try again please
What a tragedy, and we have donated to relief efforts.
We have reservations for March, with no plans to cancel.
I live and have deep roots on Maui. We will welcome respectful visitors as always. 80٪ of the island is unaffected. Stay out of Lahaina side.
If we all lose our jobs, as many likely will, our grief will be compounded!
We have friends who work in West Maui and live in Lahaina, so have lost everything except their jobs, which will be there once they are able to work again in West Maui. I have talked with them, mainly listened to them. Our hearts break for the loss of so many lives, livelihoods, homes, animals, land, historical and cultural artifacts.
We have owned a studio timeshare in West Maui for nearly 20 years and stay for several weeks in Jan/Feb. All of our plans for a Jan. 12 arrival have been made, and we hope to be permitted to follow through with them. While we send donations now, we want to do more – to support the businesses and to volunteer however we can.
There are a lot of us who love and respect the people, the culture and the land. We hope that our presence is not an intrusion, but proof of our loyalty to a place and a community that has given us so much.