Business in the convention and tourism sectors has slowed on Maui since the devastating, storm-fanned fires of Aug. 8. “Several” conventions have been canceled or delayed in the first half of 2024, and convention business is the “bread and butter” of Maui’s hotel industry, establishing a base amount of revenue each year, says Lisa Paulson, executive director of the Maui Lodging and Hotel Association. Add those losses to a steep dropoff in Maui tourism activity in August through October, which has stressed small businesses and throttled island employment, and the potential benefits of marketing to bring more visitors to the Valley Isle are clear.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) has jumped into the arena with a $2.6 million Maui Marketing Recovery Plan aimed at U.S. mainland travelers. It centers on a campaign to “Malama Maui,” reflecting HTA’s ongoing shift to destination management, and is being formed with community input. So far, so good. Now, as the plan is put into action, HTA must ensure it truly benefits recovery efforts, with robust attention to employment levels, small-business resilience and tourism’s effects on services and resources.
Marketing efforts and increased tourism must serve to support good jobs for locals and thriving homegrown enterprises, in order to provide revenue for county services and to maintain public areas used by visitors and residents alike. Where tourism dollars aren’t serving these priorities, or when tourism is overwhelming Maui’s ability to serve its residents, further adjustments must be made.
HTA’s stated goal is to “responsibly revitalize quality tourism,” and it’s shifted its approach to not only broadcast that “Maui is open,” but to target “mindful and respectful visitors.” Community input has been prioritized: On Dec. 4, HTA held an open meeting at the Maui Arts &Cultural Center to share ideas that drew more than 200 people.
In describing the pillars of its strategy, HTA includes not only consistent messaging to high-potential markets, but also “consistent messaging and outreach to all Maui residents and businesses,” to keep Maui-based stakeholders apprised of forecasts and actions. This is well-advised.
Specific focus goes to Maui’s small businesses, which have documented losses because of the declining numbers of visitors, postfire. HTA’s plan calls for proactive efforts to support expanded “tourism product” on Maui, in the form of new activities for visitors, such as cultural tours and volunteerism.
And HTA and other tourism officials are right to call for support from throughout Hawaii, encouraging residents of other islands to consider a Maui staycation with aloha for local businesses and enterprises as a way to help.
Perhaps the most unusual piece of the HTA plan is its inclusion of the need for longterm housing for the fire-displaced — not typically part of a tourism strategy, but now highly relevant. HTA’s draft plan states that it will “support providing longer-term housing for wildfire-impacted households … by appealing to Transient Vacation Rental owners.”
Certainly, at a minimum, Hawaii’s marketing should discourage tourists from staying in any of the thousands of illegal short-term rentals that are believed to operate on Maui. This can help to reverse a trend in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, when more and more tourists arrived in the islands, placing rising burdens on state and local services and infrastructure, but without delivering a corresponding rise in tax revenues.
HTA’s support for tourism is funded by taxpayers, so it’s important that the agency not only boost tourism, but engage in destination management to steer visitors and visitor spending to areas that benefit and respect the state and Maui. Comments on HTA’s Tourism Support of Maui’s Recovery plan will be accepted through Friday at smshawaii.com/hta-tourism-recovery-plan Opens in a new tab. An updated draft plan will be presented at the HTA board of directors’ next meeting on Dec. 21.
