{"id":2003227,"date":"2023-08-17T00:19:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T04:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-tourism-an-economic-mainstay-sparks-anger-amid-fire-ruin\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T00:21:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T04:21:56","slug":"maui-tourism-an-economic-mainstay-sparks-anger-amid-fire-ruin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-tourism-an-economic-mainstay-sparks-anger-amid-fire-ruin\/","title":{"rendered":"Maui tourism, a vital economic pillar, ignites fury after devastating fire."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaui-tourism-an-economic-mainstay-sparks-anger-amid-fire-ruin%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2003227&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By Doyinsola Oladipo, Julia Harte and\u2063 Rich McKay<\/p>\n<p>(Reuters)\u200c \u2013 The incongruous sight of \u2062tourists enjoying Maui\u2019s tropical beaches while search-and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-tourism-an-economic-mainstay-sparks-anger-amid-fire-ruin\/\" title=\"Maui tourism, a vital economic pillar, ignites fury after devastating fire.\">-rescue teams trawl building ruins<\/a> and waters for victims of\u200d the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century\u200b has outraged some residents.<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px;  text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-1'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>They have vented on social media, posting \u200dvideo of tourists enjoying holiday activities like snorkeling while the death toll in the historic resort town of Lahaina passes 100 and is rising \u200devery day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cOur community needs time to heal, \u200dgrieve, and restore,\u201d<\/strong> Hawaiian actor Jason\u2063 Momoa said on Instagram, urging tourists to \u200bcancel their trips.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities and businesses have welcomed \u200dthe trickle of travelers, saying it will lessen the\u2063 blow to the island\u2019s economy, which\u2063 relies heavily on tourism. The industry is Maui\u2019s\u200b \u201ceconomic engine,\u201d generating 80% of its wealth, according to the island\u2019s economic development board.<\/p>\n<p>As Maui embarks on a long, painful recovery \u2062from the fires, \u2064officials \u200bare wrestling \u200dwith how to balance residents\u2019\u2063 immediate needs for housing and resources against the island\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-win-situation-ousted-marvel-entertainment-head-says-he-told-disney-execs-dont-get-involved-in-politics\/\" title=\"\u2018No-Win Situation\u2019: Ousted Marvel Entertainment Head Says He Told Disney Execs \u2018Don\u2019t Get Involved In Politics\u2019\">long-term financial health<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaii Governor\u2062 Josh Green recalled \u2063at a weekend press conference \u2064how the COVID-19 pandemic similarly forced the state to weigh the risks of allowing\u2063 tourists \u2063in during a public health \u2062crisis against the harm Hawaii\u2019s economy would suffer from barring \u2064them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll \u200bof our people will need to survive, and we can\u2019t\u200d afford\u200c to have no jobs \u2064or no future for our \u2063children,\u201d Green said. \u201cWhen you restrict any travel to a region, you really devastate its own local residents in many ways more than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tourism has taken\u200c a hit in \u2063the week since the wildfire devastated\u200d Lahaina, \u200da popular vacation destination that was also home to historic sites significant to Hawaiian residents.<\/p>\n<p>The number \u2063of airline passengers\u200d to Maui on Sunday\u2064 was down nearly\u2062 81% compared to the same \u2064time last year, according to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, 2.9 million\u200c tourists visited\u200b Maui, which has a year-round population of 165,000, according to\u2063 the latest numbers from the U.S.\u200b Census\u200b Bureau. The state tourism \u200cdepartment reported in February that visitors spent $5.69 billion on Maui in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The Hawaii Tourism Authority \u2062now is asking visitors to \u2064avoid all non-essential travel \u2064to West Maui, the part of\u200d the island affected by the fires, so resources can be\u200c used to help locals recover. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt \u2062is likely that a big chunk of the people who are affected, losing family members, losing family homes, it\u2019s likely \u200ca lot of them were employed by the \u200bvisitor industry,\u201d tourism authority spokesperson Ilihia Gionson said.<\/p>\n<p>Hotels in West Maui have temporarily stopped accepting bookings. Many\u2064 are\u2063 housing their employees \u200cand preparing to house evacuees and first-responders working on disaster recovery, according to the tourism authority.<\/p>\n<p>The agency urged visitors to areas of Maui that did not burn \u2013\u200c such as Kahului, Wailuku, Kihei, Wailea and Makena \u2013 \u2063to contact \u200btheir accommodation and ensure they could still be hosted.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaui is not closed,\u201d Maui County Mayor \u200dRichard Bissen said at the\u2064 weekend press conference alongside the governor. \u201cMany \u2062of our residents make their living off of tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reached by phone on Tuesday, the Four\u2063 Seasons Resort at Wailea Beach in South\u2062 Maui said all hotel operations were running normally, but that it\u2064 was encouraging tourists with August reservations \u2062to postpone \u200btheir trips until the rest of the island had recovered more fully.<\/p>\n<p>Occupancy at the five-star hotel \u2062had plunged \u201cdramatically\u201d since the fire, a front desk\u2064 operator said.<\/p>\n<p>Hotel operator Hilton Worldwide Holdings, which has 23 hotels throughout\u200b Hawaii, said it was waiving cancellation penalties for those traveling to, from or through all islands of Hawaii through Aug. 31.<\/p>\n<p>Jack \u200bRichards, CEO of Los \u200cAngeles-based travel company Pleasant Holidays, scrambled to evacuate more \u200cthan \u2063400 customers who were on Maui during the fires. Dead phone lines and lost internet connections hampered the efforts, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the tourists were eventually relocated to other Hawaiian islands. Another 1,400 customers with August \u200dtravel plans\u200d to Maui need to \u200bbe rebooked, he said.<\/p>\n<p>Tour\u2064 operators who\u2064 continued to offer services in or around West Maui after the fires \u200bfaced a flood of criticism.\u200d <\/p>\n<p>A\u200b company that held a charity snorkeling tour on \u2064Friday 11 miles (18 km) from Lahaina later issued an apology and \u200csaid it was suspending operations for the time \u200dbeing. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>  (Reporting by Rich McKay, Doyinsola Oladipo and Julia Harte; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Stephen Coates)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/uncategorized\/maui-tourism-an-economic\/attachment\/lahaina-sign-greets-visitors-along-the-highway\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/uncategorized\/maui-tourism-an-economic\/attachment\/search-rescue-and-recovery-personnel-conduct-search-operations-of-areas\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/uncategorized\/maui-tourism-an-economic\/attachment\/fire-damage-in-lahaina-on-the-hawian-island-of-maui\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/uncategorized\/maui-tourism-an-economic\/attachment\/a-pacwhale-eco-adventures-catamaran-damaged-by-maui-wildfires-lies-offshore\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/uncategorized\/maui-tourism-an-economic\/attachment\/fire-damage-in-lahaina-on-the-hawian-island-of-maui-2\/\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>\u201cDaddy\u201d Biden and\u2064 John Podesta tout the Inflation Reduction Act while Glenn Beck gets cancelled.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>President Biden\u2064 is scheduled to visit Maui on Monday. This comes as the death toll \u2063has tragically risen to at least 106.Hawaii State Representative,<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Following the fourth indictment of 45th President Donald Trump, Article III founder and president Mike Davis urges House Republicans to use subpoena power to fight \u2063back.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>A\u2063 new Associated Press poll shows 63% of Republicans say they want Donald Trump to \u2063run again, which is jump form 55% who said the same thing back in April.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>JAKARTA\u200d (Reuters) \u2013 Indonesia\u2019s central bank said\u2062 on \u2064Thursday \u2064it had\u2063 started a trial of \u200dcross-border QR code payments with \u2064its Singaporean\u2026 \u2063 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>JAKARTA (Reuters)\u2064 \u2013 Indonesia\u2019s central bank said on Thursday it \u200chad started\u200b a trial of cross-border\u200c QR code\u200d payments\u200c with its Singaporean\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By Jaspreet Singh and Max A. Cherney (Reuters) \u2013 Chip design \u2062software company Synopsys on Wednesday named 25-year-veteran Sassine Ghazi as its\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By\u200c Jaspreet \u200bSingh and Max A. Cherney \u2064(Reuters) \u2013 Chip design software company Synopsys\u2062 on Wednesday\u2063 named 25-year-veteran Sassine Ghazi as its\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maui&#8217;s paradise-like beaches, while search-and-rescue teams tirelessly search for victims in the aftermath of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century. This stark contrast has sparked anger among locals, who have taken to social media to express their frustration, sharing videos of tourists seemingly oblivious to the tragedy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":2003228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oann"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}