What to Know About Visiting West Maui Now

On Oct. 8, West Maui began its phased reopening to visitors, almost exactly two months after devastating fires destroyed homes and businesses in Lahaina and beyond. And, on Nov. 1, the destination and the Kaanapali Beach Resort Association announced that they were officially welcoming visitors back (see the association’s website for specific resort reopening dates).

Knowing that many Maui residents are in a vulnerable and challenging position right now, advisors and clients may be wondering what travel to the island looks like, and whether it’s a good time to book a stay.

To answer that question, and to get a better picture of a recovering Maui, we spoke with Ilihia Gionson, public affairs officer for the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Maui’s reopening timeline cannot have been easy to determine. Can you tell us about the early October reopening, and how the first few weeks have looked?

Anytime there’s a disaster as catastrophic as what the people of Maui have endured, the question of when to reopen is a tough one. There’s so much to balance; we think about the sensitivity of coming into a community where people are still traumatized from losing family members, losing homes and losing special and beloved places. At the same time, how do you also mitigate a potential secondary disaster of an economic nature? Imagine losing your home, only to lose your job. It’s a tough balance.

We’re very thankful and appreciative of the extraordinary leadership of our governor, Josh Green, and the mayor of Maui, Richard Bissen, because they had so much to take in and so many considerations to juggle, including the readiness of people and the sort of looming economic problem on the horizon. They made some tough calls — and that’s part of being a leader.

Compassionate, mindful, sensitive travel to Maui is welcome, and encouraged more now than ever.

We are now a little over two weeks since reopening, and I think there was some anxiety that this would be an “open the floodgates” kind of situation — similar to what we saw as COVID-19 restrictions loosened. But this isn’t that. The travelers we are seeing on Maui now are folks who have been here before — they’re timeshare owners, they're longtime repeat visitors, and they're not coming in the kinds of numbers we saw post-COVID-19. It’s been a relatively quiet few weeks, kind of uneventful, and we understand that this is going to be a gradual recovery. It will take time.

What does tourism mean for the island’s local community and economy right now?

Let me paint a picture of Maui. The island has about 160,000 residents. Pre-fire, on any given day, there were between 65,000 to 70,000 visitors on the island. So, every third person on Maui was a visitor. Think about the restaurateur, the boutique owners — for all these local businesses, a third of their business comes from visitors. We think about the 1.5 million visitors Maui had in the first half of this year, and the $3.5 billion they spent — that’s big.

Think about the restaurateur, the boutique owners — for all these local businesses, a third of their business comes from visitors.

So, when it comes to West Maui, after spending time on the ground in the early days, listening to folks and understanding their needs, we want to support those people who are ready to go back to work, those who want to go back to work, those small business owners and generational shops that don’t want to lay off employees. How do we keep them afloat? It’s a difficult balance to strike. What we’ve concluded is that compassionate, mindful, sensitive travel to Maui is welcome, and encouraged more now than ever. And we know it’s probably not going to be today or tomorrow, but as you consider your future travel plans, definitely keep Maui in mind — South Maui, Central and East Maui, by all means, come on over. Folks can use your business. 

What about travel to West Maui?

For West Maui, accommodations are reopening in a phased approach, so reach out to your accommodation to be sure they’re ready to host you. And there are a number of restaurants, attractions and small businesses that can use your support in West Maui. Folks are open — just maybe not everybody, maybe not at the hours they once were. Take Whalers Village: Those businesses are starting to reopen. Restaurants serve visitors and residents, too.

What are some dos and don'ts for travel advisors to share with clients? Or, how can travelers show real consideration for locals right now?

We have resources on our website, and we also partnered with the state’s Office of Wellness and Resilience, and they came up with some recommendations.

Some specifics: The opening line of your conversations on Maui should not be, “Hey, were you affected by the fire? Did you lose your house?” This is personal, and people may not be ready to discuss this outside their families. Another thing is to stay away from Lahaina proper, and don't try to take pictures. Millions of people have special relationships with Lahaina — the memory of a first date, a wedding, their favorite restaurant — but comparing losses is not helpful at the moment. You lost your favorite spot to get a mai tai; somebody lost the home their grandmother raised them in. Then, know that there will be community gatherings happening — give those people their space.

When you book a tour with somebody like Trilogy, for example, you’re supporting the people who swung into action and saved lives.

And, similar to post-COVID-19, things don't just get right back up to speed after a disaster like this. Half your employees may have lost their homes and are working through that. Kids are at different schools. Getting back to work isn’t a top priority for some folks, while for others it is. So, we want to bring our patience and grace to the situation; know that you may have to wait a little longer for this thing you’re accustomed to getting quickly. That’s it: patience, grace and kindness.

In addition to reminding clients to bring their patience, grace and kindness, how else can advisors guide Maui-bound travelers?

It’s important to note that about 40% of Maui jobs are directly supported by visitor spending. So, the everyday things you do on a trip help. 

Also, know that your dollars support the local heroes who responded right away.

Contributions from the visitor industry were fantastic — in the first 72 hours following the fire, about 40,000 people were flown off Maui. Moving that many people to the airport from hotels and resorts was a Herculean effort between the hotels and ground transportation folks such as Polynesian Adventure and Roberts Hawaii. Trilogy, which operates snorkel cruises, jumped on their boats, headed toward the danger and pulled folks out of the water.

RELATED: One Maui Hotel's Commitment to Sustainability and Wildfire Recovery 

Bus companies and airlines stepped up big-time, too. They canceled flights in, arrived empty and flew folks out. Then they even flew supplies in and people out. As for hotels, we have a robust visitor industry in the area — with about 11,000 units between hotels, timeshares and more — and they were able to house folks.

So, when you return to Maui and you book a tour with an operator such as Trilogy, you’re supporting the people who swung into action and saved lives. When you come to Maui now and eat in a restaurant, you support the staff, who are working extra hard cooking meals for survivors. Whatever island you visit, you’re helping the recovery. The better we all do, across the islands, the more good we can all do for Maui.