Maui will be dealing with the aftermath of a catastrophe of epic proportions for a long time. The physical damage to Maui is in Lahaina, with West Maui (including Kaanapali) being cut off from tourism until further notice. However, the 109 square miles of West Maui comprise just 15% of the island’s 735 square miles.
But there’s another type of disaster that’s looming, and it is a financial one.; Maui island is, whether you like it or not, highly reliant on tourism continuing unabated.
With 85% of the island not damaged, many visitors and hotels are left wondering.
How to move forward with trip planning and reservations is at the top of everyone’s thoughts. The rest of Maui has hotels and vacation rentals open that can welcome visitors when the time is right. But having said that, they are impacted by what happened and by every decision that gets made.
The state initially asked all visitors to leave Maui after the Lahaina fire. And now hotels and vacation rentals in South Maui (Kihei and Wailea), Central Maui (Kahului), Upcountry Maui, and East Maui (Hana) are wondering how long they have to sit with open availability.
Initially, the state urged visitors to leave Maui following the Lahaina fire.
But that has since changed. There has been no official confirmation of a return to Maui travel, but the governor stated on Facebook that Maui needs visitors to return, and you have called for it in countless comments.
Hindsight will be great in evaluating whether the decisions made were the best ones, and will help both in preventing and mitigating future disasters. What’s done is done, but some are seeing the call by Lieutenant Governor Luke for all visitors to leave as unnecessarily drastic, and ill-advised. We saw this weekend in Honolulu an enormous number of people who reported moving there after being evacuated from Maui last week. The crowding was very noticeable everywhere.
The need for tourism employment to return is becoming critical.
It is ultimately a personal decision for the visitor about when to return, and visitors will need to decide for themselves. But here are some things to keep in mind for the moment, and over the next weeks:
West Maui is off-limits until further notice, and we don’t have information about when that will change. Placards are required for entry into West Maui and are only available to full-time residents and critical personnel.
Shelters are still open on Maui because of so many people who have no place to live. These people need housing before tourism can be fully restored.
The official death count will no doubt climb higher in the coming days. 500 or more people have probably perished. This is devastating to all of Maui because everyone is highly connected. There needs to be time to heal and we don’t even know when the full impact of the fire will be known.
Haleakala National Park will reopen on August 16. That’s a good sign for things moving forward in the near future.