West Maui Is Reopening. Here’s What Travelers Should Know.

08.10.2023 - 11:25 / nytimes.com / Josh Green / Richard Bissen

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.

Maui, Hawaii’s second largest island, remains in the throes of recovery, with West Maui schools still shuttered, hundreds of businesses closed and thousands of people out of work and living in temporary housing at local hotels. The state government’s decision to reopen has encountered fierce pushback among some residents, who say the step is rushed, and a petition to delay the reopening has been signed by more than 15,000 people.

The mayor of Maui County, Richard Bissen, said tourism’s return will be measured, and in late September announced a voluntary, staggered approach to reopening, one that begins with only hotels in the northernmost portion of West Maui welcoming guests. In a statement issued on Thursday, Gov. Josh Green called the phased approach “a gentle reopening that will serve both the people and local businesses.”

The absence of tourism, the island’s main economic driver, has threatened a second crisis: Since the fires, Maui has lost more than $13 million per day in visitor spending, according to one analysis by the University of Hawaii.

Here’s what visitors need to know.

The West Maui communities of Kaanapali, Napili, Honokowai and Kapalua, north of the region hardest hit by the fires, are now open to tourists, according to the emergency proclamation, posted Sept. 9 by Governor Green. The town of Lahaina and its surrounding areas remain closed to tourists.

Travel to other areas of Maui that were not damaged by the fires, such as Wailea, has not been restricted, despite initial pushback from some residents about the propriety of visiting any part of Maui. And there were no prohibitions against travel to Hawaii’s other islands.

However, the reopening doesn’t mean all hotels, restaurants and other businesses in West Maui are operating — and some state and local officials for weekswere seemingly at odds on what shape and cadence West Maui’s reopening should take.

In his statement, Governor Green appeared to clear the air, by praising Mayor Bissen and indicating that the mayor should handle the reopening.

“The recovery can be a community-led, government-supported effort to help the people of Lahaina,” the governor said.

The first stage of Mayor Bissen’s voluntary plan — opening hotels and businesses in communities from Kapalua to Kahana — will be assessed before two subsequent phases, which focus on neighborhoods farther south, where a greater number of displaced residents are being housed, start.