Hawai‘i Tourism Now: Terry Fischer Shares His Thoughts on Hawai’i’s Tourism Industry

Terry Fischer, President and CEO of Polynesian Adventure Tours speaks with Patty Lee, operations manager for Hawai’i Airport Advertising and on-camera host for Pacific Media Group to discuss the future of Hawai’i’s tourism industry.

Fischer said that the coronavirus pandemic completely halted the operations of Polynesian Adventure Tours.

“Our operations have come to a complete halt. We have not one motorcoach minibus on the road right now…It came to a halt pretty rapidly.”

According to Fischer, by the third week of March, almost all of their motorcoach vehicles were off the road.

“It’s tough. As a result, we’ve had to lay off and furlough just about our entire staff. We have laid off over 320 people statewide…It is just kind of being a matter of trying to figure this out and how we are going to preserve the company,” Fischer said.

The company is still receiving bookings and highlighted the shift in demand in favor of domestic over international travel.

Fischer is optimistic that Hawai’i will be a hotspot for domestic travel once tourism returns because of consumers’ perceived safety of the state.

“Everyone is quite optimistic that Hawai’i is going to be a hotspot once tourism reboots. The challenge is going to be how is the state going to allow let it happen…There’s really no firm guidance at this time,” Fischer said.

To learn more about Polynesian Adventure Tours and how they are handling the coronavirus crisis, watch the video above.