One evening after a long day at work, Diksha Manocha was idly scrolling Instagram when she stumbled across something peculiar: an account for Join My Wedding, an online service that allows tourists to purchase tickets to weddings in India.
01.09.2023 - 17:41 / insider.com / Joe Biden / Josh Green
Catastrophic wildfires on Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii destroyed homes and forced tens of thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate last month. As of August 29, The New York Times reported 115 confirmed fatalities.
Still, Maui is dependent on visitors — in 2022, 2.7 million people visited the island and spent $5.82 billion, according to a report by Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism — and in the aftermath of the wildfires, its tourism industry has suffered.
On August 19, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green issued an emergency proclamation strongly discouraging all nonessential travel to West Maui. However, at a press conference with President Joe Biden on August 21, Green encouraged people to visit other parts of Maui in order to "to support our local economy and speed the recovery," according to a press release from the Office of the Governor.
Here are eight areas of Maui that are open to tourists, and the places that are off-limits right now.
One evening after a long day at work, Diksha Manocha was idly scrolling Instagram when she stumbled across something peculiar: an account for Join My Wedding, an online service that allows tourists to purchase tickets to weddings in India.
It’s been ten days since Hawaii’s governor announced that West Maui would reopen to tourists on October 8th, but the debate seems to just be heating up now.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green has been a busy man.
Easdale Island sounds almost mythical.
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Terry and Al Hershey can afford to live anywhere they please after their successful careers—she in the corporate offices of Time Warner, he running businesses in medical device manufacturing and contract research and development. So, when they loaded up their 34-foot RV at their Bonita Springs, Florida home and hit the road to scout a second retirement locale, they headed to what might sound like a surprising place: Traverse City, Michigan, a small town (population 16,000) 250 miles northwest of Detroit, that sits on a bay opening to Lake Michigan. In 2021, the Hersheys moved into a 132-year-old, 5-bedroom Victorian three blocks from Grand Traverse Bay, where they spend six months a year with their goldendoodle and Aussiedoodle. Now both 76, they hike, bike, kayak and motorboat and can choose from scores of musical performances a year at the nearby Interlochen Center for the Arts and by the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. “We wanted a summer base,” Terry explains. Why not spend all year in Traverse City? They don’t mind the cold (they lived for many years in Colorado), but find the lack of sunshine during the winters in Traverse City too dreary, she says.
Maui’s tourism recovery has been moving at a sluggish pace since the wildfires devastated the island’s western region in early August. One factor: Tourists have been slow to return out of sensitivity to locals.
As the plane descends to Maui’s airport in Kahului, it’s readily apparent how sharply tourism has dropped off following the massive fires a month ago: hundreds of unrented rental cars parked in a field near the runway. In the aftermath of the blaze that leveled the historic town of Lahaina and caused so much personal suffering and loss, it was understandable for Hawaii’s Governor Josh Green to advise visitors not to come to Maui. Now facing the financial devastation of an island that depends on tourism, the government changed its position and is urging visitors to come, including to the resort areas of West Maui north of Lahaina which are reopening October 8th. But should visitors listen?
West Maui will officially welcome visitors again next month following the devastating wildfires that swept the paradise destination in August.
Hawaii will reopen most of West Maui to tourists starting on October 8, Governor Josh Green announced on Friday. Only Lahaina will be remained closed to the public. Tourists will be able to visit Kā‘anapali, Nāpili, Honokōwai, and Kapalua.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green announced last week that West Maui’s hotels and resorts would reopen to visitors as soon as October 8th.
I've been visiting Disney World and Universal Orlando for many years. Since moving from Maryland to Florida seven years ago, I usually spend several days a month at both parks.