In addressing a community concern about ensuring the economic well-being of Maui and the state, Governor Josh Green emphasized the importance of travel during today’s news conference.
“Like we saw in the pandemic, decisions we made can affect everyone across the islands. So what we’re saying now is travel should not be to West Maui. But the other parts of Maui are safe,” said Governor Green. “And the rest of the state, of course, is also safe.”
“I’ll be making a much broader announcement and have a broader discussion about this on Friday in a statewide address. But we want people to travel to the state to the extent that they’re not impacting the hard work that these extraordinary people are doing (supporting disaster recovery),” the Governor said.
In alignment with Governor Green, the Hawaii Tourism Authority urges visitors to refrain from going to West Maui (including Lahaina, Napili, Kaanapali, and Kapalua) as a means of respect to the people and places that have been lost in Lahaina during this devastating tragedy.
The August 13 emergency proclamation remains in place, with all nonessential travel to West Maui being strongly discouraged through the month of August.
The impacted area of Lahaina remains off limits to the public as the search and recovery efforts continue.
For the latest Maui emergency management and recovery information, and how you can kokua (help) the people of Maui, visit mauistrong.hawaii.gov.
