Hawaii Wildfires: As Maui Begins to Recover, Travelers Must Help Rebuild

23.08.2023 - 14:15 / cntraveler.com / Josh Green

As smoke rolled over their Lahaina neighborhood, Akanesi Vaa, her husband, and their three kids rushed to their car. The clear blue sky went grey, then black, in what seemed like a few heartbeats. Homes burned around them. Intense heat radiated through the car doors. Then came a banging at the window, as an elderly woman pleaded, “Please help me, I have a baby.” Vaa looked for a way forward: Should she keep moving to get her kids out of harm’s way, or stop to help this elder?

She plucked the toddler from the car and yelled to her own children to run—and not wait for her. The entire family survived.

Vaa's story is not unique. Lahaina residents suffered harrowing trauma as wildfires engulfed their town on August 8. And like Vaa, many have engaged in countless acts of courage and selflessness in caring for one another—whether it be saving the life of someone more vulnerable or opening the doors of their home to those who have lost their own.

As the scorched ground of Lahaina cools, some travelers may now be asking: Should I vacation in Maui or not? When will it be okay for me to visit? 

While the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority and Governor Josh Green are encouraging travel to other parts of Maui, many survivors and some celebrities are asking tourists not to vacation on Maui. Finding answers will not be easy, but here is the bottom line: Maui is grieving. Thousands of residents have lost everything: the homes they grew up in and raised their children in; the community centers and businesses they built; the schools they attended; the sacred spaces where they worshiped. Families of the missing still await word of whether their loved ones are gone forever. Ashes floating on the Lahaina winds still carry the remains of the deceased. All Maui’s estimated 165,000 residents have experienced loss of some kind. If you do decide to travel, ask yourself, how should I enter into a community in mourning?

Even before the fires, Maui was suffering. A precursor to the immediate devastation of the wildfires is the slower violence of overtourism. In 2020—as Hawai‘i reflected on a path forward following Covid lockdowns—the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s annual survey found that the majority of residents said tourism brought more problems than benefits. Responsible travelers have also begun pondering the potential impacts of their presence on Maui. So much so, that Fodor's placed Maui on its 2023 “No List” which flags regions tourists should reconsider due to threats of environmental damage—placing it under the “Destinations Suffering From Water Crises” category. (In June 2022, after years of severe drought, strict water restrictions were placed on Maui residents, but not on resorts.) And when it comes to real estate, out-of-state