Hawaii's New Message to Tourists: 'Maui Is Ready'

27.03.2024 - 07:51 / skift.com / Red Cross / Jay Shabat / Dawit Habtemariam

Tourists have remained unsure whether Maui is ready to welcome them after its painful recovery from last August’s wildfires. So Hawaii’s tourism agency launched a marketing campaign last week to reassure them that the entire island is open for business.

The campaign spotlights local businesses and residents welcoming visitors back, and it’s called Mākaukau Maui, which means “Maui is Ready.”

“We wanted to offer a platform and a voice for them to make that invitation to folks,” said T. Ilihia Gionson, the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s public affairs officer.

Tourism officials launched the campaign after visitor spending dropped 19% in January. Maui lost an estimated $120 million in revenue.

Maui faces competition from other sun-and-sea destinations that are also wooing mainland Americans.

“We’re in competition with other sun destinations,” said Lisa Paulson, executive director of the Maui Lodging and Hotel Association. “Mexico and the Caribbean are pushing hard.”

If tourism doesn’t recover quickly, skilled restaurant and other tourism workers may leave the area. Some may have already.

A large number of Maui locals remain unemployed. Unemployment was 6.2% in January, up from 3% last year, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Some Maui locals also face the possibility of their unemployment benefits running out soon. 

“A lot of people that initially filed right after the fires, their unemployment benefits are ending at the end of this month,” said Paulson, noting that some locals have already left the island to find work elsewhere.

For Maui to make a full recovery, airlines will need to keep flying there. But seat capacity on flights to Maui was down 16% in January from a year earlier, according to Cirium Diio. The number of flights was down 14%.

“Despite the big dropoff in capacity since last summer, Maui’s airport is still busier now, measured by seat capacity, than it was during this time in 2019, before the pandemic,” said Jay Shabat, Senior Analyst and Co-Founder of Airline Weekly.

While the marketing campaign says Maui is ready for its close-up, the on-the-ground picture is more nuanced.

The August wildfires destroyed the homes of thousands of individuals and families. According to Paulson, over 3,300 displaced individuals stay in hotels in Kaanapali, Central Maui, and Kihei under contracts with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross.  

At an HTA community meeting in December, some of Maui’s displaced voiced concerns about the lack of long-term housing and potential the loss of their accommodations to tourists. Government officials are trying to find a long-term housing solution for the displaced.

Another concern raised at the December community meeting was about tourists being