‘Not the right timing’: Planned reopening of West Maui tourism stirs concern

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - State leaders are revealing more of their plan to restart tourism in West Maui in about a month to boost the economy.

Gov. Josh Green said nearly 7,300 people are staying in 32 hotels across West Maui, and those hotels are set to reopen to tourism in less than four weeks.

Some say it’s too soon, but state leaders say it’s the right time.

The Maui County Council got an earful Tuesday from residents worried about the Oct. 8 reopening of West Maui tourism.

“And bringing back tourism feels that train’s gonna keep moving, and it’s gonna leave us all behind,” said one Kula Resident. “So, it’s not the right timing for this, apparently.”

“What gone happen when all the tourists come? You guys gone kick them out? Where are they going?” said Junya Nakoa of Maui.

But state leaders said no fire victims would be kicked out of a hotel without a place to go and that by the end of September, most will be relocated to longer-term housing such as Airbnb’s.

“We’re going to negotiate a very good rate over 100% of the baseline rate that people would get from a rental,” said Green. “And we’ll keep some hotels because we want to have a cushion so that no one becomes homeless.”

SPECIAL SECTION: MAUI WILDFIRES

DBEDT’s Director James Tokioka, said without the reopening, hotels would have to lay off many of the nearly 3,000 unionized workers impacted by the fires.

“And if they did that, the impact would have been huge because they wouldn’t have medical insurance,” said Tokioka. “So, those are all the information that was going to happen, and it’s not a threat.”

“It was just they couldn’t afford the money that they were losing every week.”

Gov. Green expects West Maui to return to at least 20% of its pre-fire tourism levels.

He says he set a reopening date to avoid the confusion felt during the COVID pandemic.

“Those people need some hope, and all of Maui needs to have clear messaging to the mainland. Otherwise, people won’t go to Kihei. They will not go to Wailea. That was a problem that we experienced,” said Green. “I happen to have had enough experience to have seen what you have to do.”

The county council asked what type of child care will be offered to employees planning to return to work.

Tokioka said it’s a question he plans to ask the governor, superintendent, and Department of Human Services.

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