The Maui wildfires, which have been linked to dozens of deaths and burned much of Lahaina’s historic town district, could also have lasting effects on the tourism industry that plays a huge role in the island’s economy.
Local officials asked visitors making non-essential trips to Maui to leave, and leave strong hearted different from making such trips while the island is in crisis mode.
Tourism was the largest source of private capital for Hawaii’s economy in 2019, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. That year the 10.4 million visitors who traveled to the state spent nearly $18 billion, the agency said.
Maui accounted for nearly one-third of the nearly $49 million visitors spent on average per day in the state that year, the Tourism Authority said. But even that figure doesn’t quite capture how important tourism is to the local economy. The Maui Economic Development Board it is estimated that the island’s “visitor industry” directly or indirectly accounts for about four out of every five dollars generated on the island.
Before the wildfires, Hawaii’s tourism economy was still recovering from the pandemic-induced visitor slump. Last year, the state counted more than nine million visitors, according to official data. In the first quarter of this year, the 2.4 million visitors who arrived by air showed a 21.5 percent increase compared to the same quarter of 2022.
The fires stopped recovering in their tracks, at least for a while.
Tijana Brien, 36, said she had immediate problems after flying to Maui on Tuesday from California with her husband and two young children. There was no electricity in their hotel, and they saw a big cloud of smoke coming from the parking lot.
They ended up at another resort, but it had no electricity or food. Then Ms.’s phone lost cellular service. Brien for about 15 hours. Eventually, the family decided to cut the trip short and fly home.
“A lot of people are excited to get home,” he said from Maui’s Kahului Airport Wednesday night. “We’re very lucky to be able to leave, but we also have an obligation that we don’t consume resources for the people who live there.”
