Maui needs tourism to support its economy — here’s how to visit responsibly

That investors are buying single-family homes across the country is not new, but how much and where?

In the waters beneath Sydney’s iconic opera house, an artificial reef is thriving. The five-year-old addition, which now hosts the endangered White’s seahorse, is joined by newly-planted seagrass meadows, kelp forests, and hundreds of living sea walls, all of which are helping to bring biodiversity back to Sydney Harbor. Both below and above the water's surface, the city—the country’s most populous and most-visited—is taking big steps toward sustainability.

MAUI -- I had mixed feelings about coming to Maui so shortly after wildfires decimated Lahaina.

Spurring controversy locally but undoubtedly a necessary step for the economy, the reopening of iconic hotels in West Maui is underway, with different dates set for each hotel.

Yesterday on October 8th, exactly two months after a wildfire destroyed the town of Lahaina, visitors were officially welcomed back to parts of Maui’s west coast.

Two months after wildfires on the western shores of Maui killed 97 people, destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and burned more than 2,100 acres, a state order discouraging travel to the area was lifted on Sunday. But whether local hotels and businesses plan to welcome visitors remains uncertain.

Tourism is slowly coming back to Maui as the Hawaiian government starts to lift travel restrictions to the western region, two months after devastating wildfires that left nearly 100 dead and displaced thousands of people.

Hawaiians have delivered a petition asking to delay tourism reopening following the summer wildfires.

The mayor of the Hawaiian island of Maui detailed the phased reopening of West Maui set to begin this weekend following the devastating fires this summer.

Saudi Arabia has become a “must-see destination”, Zurab Pololikashvili, secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, said in Riyadh during the opening ceremony of World Tourism Day this weekend. “This is a country that always looks forward, and in big ways,” he continued. “Saudi Arabia is now the second-biggest place for foreign direct investment projects in all the Middle East and Africa. I’m proud to say we count on the support of Saudi Arabia.”

It's been just a year since Japan reopened its borders to international travel after the pandemic. But tourism has rebounded in ways almost no one could have predicted, setting up a potentially record-breaking 2024.

The Hawaiian Islands in general, and Maui in particular, have been remarkably resilient over the last four years. First, Covid shut the islands down, and this quick action slowed the spread of illness to locals. When visitors were welcomed back, the proverbial floodgates opened, and talk of over-tourism began almost immediately. That delicate balance played out across all the islands over the next couple of years. Then, the town of Lahaina, Maui’s historical heart and soul, was destroyed by fire just last month, effectively shutting down tourism for several weeks. While the governor will officially welcome visitors back to all parts of the island (except Lahaina) on October 8th, the return will be understandably slow. Many travelers are reluctant to travel to Maui for fear of getting in the way of cleanup efforts and, more psychologically, visiting for pleasure while so many locals are suffering.