Official Message to Tourists in Maui and Hawaii by the Hawaii Tourism Authority

Wildfires are continuing to burn in multiple areas of Maui and on Hawai‘i Island’s Kohala Coast. These fires have resulted in the evacuation of thousands of residents and visitors and multiple closures of major roadways.

The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority is in continuous communication with state and county emergency management officials, as well as our Global Marketing Team and visitor industry partners, to monitor this situation and will provide updates.

Visitors who are on non-essential travel are being asked to leave Maui, and non-essential travel to Maui is strongly discouraged at this time. In the days and weeks ahead, our collective resources and attention must be focused on the recovery of residents and communities that were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses.

Visitors who have travel plans to West Maui in the coming weeks are encouraged to consider rescheduling their travel plans for a later time. 

Visitors with travel plans to stay in other parts of Maui and the Kohala Coast of Hawaiʻi Island in the coming weeks are encouraged to contact their hotels for updated information and how their travel plans may be affected. Travel to Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and other parts of Hawaiʻi Island are not affected at this time.

While Kahului Airport on Maui remains open at this time, residents and visitors with travel bookings are encouraged to check with their airline for any flight changes or cancellations, or for assistance with rebooking. 

Throughout this crisis, HTA will be providing communication updates to our travel partners – airlines, accommodations, ground transportation companies, activity providers, travel agents, and wholesalers, as well as to local and national media – to ensure the public is kept informed about travel to Maui and Hawai‘i Island.

In partnership with the Red Cross, HTA is opening an assistance center at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center on Oʻahu for people evacuated from Maui who are unable to return home at this time. Support will be provided at the assistance center to help visitors book accommodations or flights.

Visit ready.hawaii.gov for the latest general information, and hawaiitourismauthority.org for visitor-specific information.

Mālama pono.

For more news updates from Hawaii click here.

About the author

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Newest
Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
Share to...