Hawaii’s Maui Tourism Faces Long Recovery After Wildfires

14.09.2023 - 17:21 / skift.com / Josh Green / Jay Shabat / Dawit Habtemariam / Morgan Stanley

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.

In a September 8 press conference, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said West Maui would be open to tourists again on October 8, two months after the fire started. Only Lahaina – the area that took the most damage – will be closed off to the public.

“It’s going to be a slow coming back,” said Lisa Paulson, executive director of the Maui Hotel & Lodging Association. “It’s not going to be this massive flood of guests like after the pandemic.”

The island is still healing from the wildfire. Over 100 people have died and more than 60 people remain missing. Since August 16, over 7,500 displaced survivors have been relocated to 29 hotels and hundreds of Airbnbs in Maui.

Many hotels have been under contract with the Red Cross to house the displaced, said Paulson. The contracts will end on September 29.

Hotels like Grand Wailea and Four Seasons Resorts Maui remain largely empty. “For every 1,000 units that we don’t have a guest in, it’s a potential loss of $30 million for local businesses throughout the island,” said Paulson.

Some travel businesses say it’s too soon to come back. Shane Tackett, chief financial officer and executive vice president of Alaska Air Group, shared his view at Morgan Stanley’s Laguna Conference on September 12.

”There’s a subset of people who are going to not want to take this aspirational vacation to a place that’s still suffering,” said Tackett. “We’re going to go at the pace that residents of Maui want to go, and we’ll serve the demand once we see it start to come back.”

Airlines have continued to cut flights. Since early August, the number of scheduled flights into and out of Maui for the full year has fallen from 7,144 to 7,040, according to Cirium. “Airlines have clearly cut their schedules in response to the Maui fires, with peak season winter capacity below summer levels this year,” said Skift’s Airline Weekly Senior Analyst Jay Shabat.

“The scheduled air seats are down for now through the end of the year,” said Ilihia Gionson, public affairs officer of Hawaii Tourism Authority. “We know this will be a long recovery.” 

Over 70% of every dollar in Maui County is directly or indirectly generated from tourism, according to the Maui Economic Development Tourism Board.

Tour operators have been cautious. G Adventures, which canceled its Maui trips in August, is considering October or even November to return, said vice president of product Yves Marceau. “It’s hard to say we’re going back when there’s just been this massive catastrophe, you have to kind of feel your way through