Protecting the people of Hawaii – and not ratings – is the priority of Mayor Kirk Caldwell of the City & County of Honolulu. Decisions made by the Mayor have not always been popular and did make for great ratings in polls, but most definitely those decisions saved lives.

An emotional Honolulu Mayor today thanked the people of Hawaii for doing what was necessary to make the State of Hawaii the safest place in the United States at this time when it comes to COVID-19. With only 35 active cases and no new infections, Hawaii is just now in the process of opening up their islands.

On Oahu, getting a haircut becomes a reality on Friday. Visiting a restaurant will follow on June 5, and getting some exercise in a gym may be possible once again on June 19 following the planned reopening of hotels and other venues.

Bars, nightclubs, and mass venues may have to wait a little longer.

The two-week quarantine for passengers flying interisland may no longer be necessary assuming there are no more than 3 cases of new COVID-19 infections.

eTN Publisher Juergen Steinmetz – who is also leading rebuilding.travel – asked if the Mayor would agree with him to wait 2 weeks and watch what opening the tourism industry will do for Florida or California, and wait 2 weeks on what the opening of our state will do to the spread of the virus. The mayor agreed and said his response is YES.

Rebuilding.travel has been working with regions around the world to establish travel bubbles and corona-resilient zones. According to Mayor Caldwell, such an approach is being discussed also for the Aloha State and creating Hawaii holidays once again.

The Mayor mentioned a start could be opening up flights for Hawaii holidays to New Zealand and Australia where coronavirus infections are low, followed by South Korea and Japan.

Domestic tourism will be dealt with after that.

#rebuildingtravel