#tourism

Some owners are selling, and related businesses like cleaning services are seeing a drop in jobs and income. “We’re just kind of in purgatory,” one property management company said.

Maui County’s economic recovery remains slower than other islands, particularly in tourism and employment, suggesting lingering effects from the August 2023 wildfires disaster that disrupted tourism and local businesses, according to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism the 2025 Statistical and Economic Report, published in this first quarter.

Eighteen months after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires, there were 202,738 visitors to Maui in January 2025. The number of visitors to Maui in January 2025 was higher than January 2024 (175,005 visitors, +15.8%), but below January 2019 (233,422 visitors, -13.1%).

Commercial operators at Kā‘anapali Beach say the court order could force them to shut down if their permits are not renewed this year, jeopardizing jobs of people impacted by the August 2023 wildfires. 

With visitors choosing to go elsewhere, Maui County can expect “slow progress” in its economic recovery in the wake of the August 2023 wildfire disaster, according to economics professor Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization.

Hundreds of property owners have been notified recently that they owe back taxes. The county has struggled to collect the tax since it was imposed in 2021.

Demand for constructor workers and contractors is outpacing the need in Lahaina, where a massive rebuild effort is just getting started.

Construction activity, including the rebuilding of wildfire devastated Lahaina town, will overcome relative weakness in tourism and help build a stable economic recovery, at a rate of 1.3%, for Hawaiʻi statewide, according to a forecast by economists with the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Kyle Kawakami, chef and owner of the food truck Maui Fresh Streatery, is featured in a new Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau destination campaign titled “The People. The Place. The Hawaiian Islands.”

A global hospitality company on Wednesday announced plans to build its first Hawai‘i location – on the controversial site of the former Coco Palms resort on the East Side of Kaua‘i, which has stood derelict since its destruction via hurricane in 1992.

The Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau announced the appointment of Laurie Ihara as its new senior director of sales, single property. In her role, Ihara will be responsible for collaboratively leading and developing strategy for Meet Hawai‘i’s single property team.

The Nature Conservancy first purchased statewide coral reef insurance in 2022. The new policy doubles the area covered – as well as the minimum payout following a damaging hurricane or tropical storm.

The draft plan called “Tourism Support for Maui’s Recovery” was developed for the purpose of how best to respond to the Tourism Emergency Declaration issued on Aug. 19 by Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green due to the Aug. 8 fires.

Ahead of Carnival Cruise Line’s next visit to Hawaiʻi on the 2,124-guest Carnival Miracle, which will arrive to Kahului, Maui on Thursday, it’s also continuing to chart its course for deployment plans to bring more guests to Hawaiʻi.

“As we continue to assess the needs of Maui’s people and how they envision rebuilding for the future, a Tourism Recovery Plan is critical to supporting Maui’s revival and the state’s immediate, mid-term, and long-term recovery efforts,” said Mahina Paishon-Duarte, Chair of the Disaster Response Permitted Interaction Group and HTA Board Vice Chair.

Hawai‘i Tourism Authority President and CEO, John De Fries, announced he will not be accepting an extension of his three-year employment contract, which concludes on Sept. 15, 2023.

Maui County had the largest vacation rental supply in the state in April 2023. In comparison to pre-pandemic April 2019, ADR was higher in April 2023, but vacation rental supply, demand and occupancy were lower.

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, the state agency responsible for managing tourism in Hawaiʻi, awarded three contracts to advance progress toward regenerative tourism through destination management and visitor education.

Recent developments bring both “promise and peril” for Hawaiʻi, according to the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization’s second quarter forecast for 2023 released today.

Tourism continued to recover across the state in February, with Maui County reporting double digit increases in visitors and spending over the same time last year.