In the first days after the inferno hit the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, instructions to tourists were emphatically “stay away.” And tourists followed suit, with a few exceptions.
Maybe too good, after all.
Nearly a month after the fire, Maui, a tourism-dependent island with a hotel room for every 7.5 households, is hosting fewer visitors than at any time since the coronavirus pandemic. Even miles away from Lahaina, the pristine beaches are deserted. Hundreds of unused rental cars are parked in fields near the island’s main airport in Kahului, and planes arrive half full. In a hotel room where no one has been lying in weeks, the beds are made and the pillows are fluffy.
All of this means that the workers who form the backbone of Hawaii’s welcoming aloha spirit are now suffering. At some of Maui’s most exclusive resorts, employees are being sent home with zero jobs and no pay.
“It’s hard to think about the future right now, and it’s hard to think about whether you’re going to make next month’s rent,” said a cook at the Grand Wailea Resort in south Maui, about 30 miles from the burn zone. Owen Wegner, who serves as He’s only been called up to his second shift in the last two weeks.
Mr. Wegner, 20, was born and raised in Lahaina and used to play the snare drum in parades down Front Street, once an idyllic commercial thoroughfare by the ocean. The Aug. 8 blaze turned streets into graveyards of charred cars and burnt buildings and killed at least 115 people, making it the country’s deadliest wildfire in 100 years. Among them is Mr. Wegner’s grandmother, Lynne Manibogue, who raised him.
Mr. Wegner had little time to grieve. Instead, he is trying to find a way to support his partner, Sabrina Caitlin Quadro. He has a 1-year-old son and a daughter due on September 5th. This day is also the last day you can pay your monthly rent before a late fee is incurred.
“Both me and her are under a lot of stress,” Wegner said.
Maui economic collapse Tourism accounts for about 40%, was quick and tough. State economic officials estimate that the number of visitors to the island is about 4,250 fewer than usual each day, equating to a loss of $9 million per day. In South Maui, 7 out of 10 of his hotel rooms are empty, whereas in normal times he would have about 2 out of 10.
The plummeting numbers are based on conflicting pleas from Hawaii politicians and residents.Governor and Lieutenant Governor announced emergency declaration He said he would “strongly refrain” from non-essential travel to Maui in the first few days after the fire.
A few days later, Governor Josh Green said, issued a correction order The fire is confined to West Maui, which occupies a small portion of the island. But tourism officials are concerned that potential visitors may not be familiar with the island’s geography. now, many politiciansworkers and industry leaders are making a new appeal to tourists to ‘come back’.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said this week, “West Maui is not a place for people to go at this time, but I would like to emphasize that the rest of Maui is open.”
Hawaii Hotel Alliance Chairman Jerry Gibson said he was trying to send a message that the south side of Maui, home to luxury hotels, condominiums and restaurants, was eager to welcome families with suitcases. .
“The south side of Maui is wide open,” Gibson said. “Unfortunately, at the moment, tourists are not coming there due to previous messages.”
Maui residents have consistently maintained that visitors should avoid all of West Maui, which continues to be a hub for displaced families. More than 5,000 non-tourists are staying in hotels there, including displaced families, government relief workers, aid organizations and cleaners. Locals have also warned against blocking freeways to see the destroyed town of Lahaina. These remind tourists elsewhere on the island to be sensitive to the fact that the people they encounter may have lost their homes or had connections to those who have died.
There has long been tension between Hawaii’s locals and tourists, and some say the sharp decline in revenue that Maui is currently facing has meant the state has prioritized residents over tourists, making it more They argue that this is a sign that we should rely on sustainable industries.
Chris West, president of the local International Harbors and Warehousing Union, who also represents workers in the tourism and pineapple industries, said he and other Native Hawaiians have mixed feelings about tourists, but they want to keep the economy going. said they needed their return to do so.
“So visit, but be respectful, and we can coexist,” West said.
A colorful town of shops and restaurants on the North Shore, Paia is usually abuzz with shopping, even on weekday afternoons.There is usually a long line to order paia fish marketa stream of people looking into the window of mele ukuleletourists finding shade on the front patio Tobi’s Poke & Shave Ice.
But many stores were eerily empty on a recent weekday, and one local pizzeria had so many empty booths that the general manager jumped into one to get the job done. Two guys were sitting alone at the bar.
Annie Mullen, who has worked at the restaurant on and off for the past 12 years, said business has come to a near “total halt” since the fire in Lahaina, about a 45-minute drive away. Mullen said she felt guilty worrying about her employees’ pay and her own pay when so many people died. But she said she fears things will get worse if visitors continue to stay away.
“It’s really hard to get over the grief and shock of the terrible thing that just happened, but you also have to worry about money,” she says.
General manager Nick Rodriguez said in just a few weeks it had gone from “begging people to work for us” to having to turn people away.
More than 5,300 people on Maui filed initial unemployment claims in the roughly two weeks after the fires, according to state data. In a typical week, the number of claims would be closer to 120.
Many of Paia’s businesses donate a portion of their profits to recovery efforts in Lahaina.
One block from the pizzeria, wings hawaii, a boutique selling jewelry, clothing, stickers, and other beach decorations. Becky Dorsch, one of the store’s co-founders, said foot traffic has plummeted. One bright spot is the new stickers the store is offering to support Lahaina and raise money for relief efforts. Hundreds have been sold online, she said.
Dosh, who moved to Hawaii in 1999, said he believes the initial drop in tourism helped people start to grieve and recover.
“And now people are all asking how they can help,” Dorsh said. “We’ve just been telling people that it would really help if they were actually here.”