KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) — Richie Olsten has been in Maui's helicopter tour business for a half century, so long he's developed a barometer for the tourism-dependent economy: rental cars parked at the island's airport. There are so many since wildfires killed at least 115 people in the historic town of Lahaina that Olsten is worried about a full-blown economic catastrophe. Restaurants and tour companies are laying off workers, and unemployment is surging. State tourism officials, after initially urg
KAHULUI, Hawaii — Richie Olsten has been in Maui's helicopter tour business for a half century, so long he's developed a barometer for the tourism-dependent economy: rental cars parked at the island's airport.in the historic town of Lahaina that Olsten is worried about a full-blown economic catastrophe. Restaurants and tour companies are laying off workers, and unemployment is surging.
Even those in South Maui, 30 miles south of Lahaina, are half empty. Hannemann called the situation “pretty grim.” Swain wants Hali'imaile — which was founded as a general store for pineapple plantation workers a century ago and became a restaurant in 1987 — to last decades more. University of Hawaii economists expect Maui's jobless rate to climb as high as 10%. It peaked at 35% during the COVID-19 pandemic, but in July was just 2.5%. And this time, there are no pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program loans for businesses, nor any enhanced unemployment checks for the jobless.
One reason visitor traffic plunged is that Hawaii's leaders, joined by Hollywood celebrities, told travelers to vacate the island. Two days after the fire, Jason Momoa, a Hollywood actor and Native Hawaiian, told his 17 million Instagram followers, “Do not travel to Maui.” More recently, he advised: “Maui is open. Lahaina is closed.”