Tourists were officially welcomed back to West Maui on Sunday, exactly two months after devastating wildfires displaced thousands of residents, killed 98 people and destroyed hundreds of buildings.
Historic Lahaina Town – once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom – was, and is still, unrecognizable. Cleanup of debris has barely begun.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced on Sept. 8 that the unaffected areas just north from where the fire took place would reopen to travelers so “people from Hawaii and around the world can resume travel to this special place and help it begin to recover economically,” he said in a news conference.
To kick off the reopening, five hotels and eight timeshare condos in West Maui started accepting guests and owners, starting with 3 miles of the northwestern coast.
Tourists and residents alike have been grappling with the island’s reopening plans, with some wondering if it’s insensitive to bring back visitors months after the deadliest wildfire in recent U.S. history. Besides palpable grief, residents fear the government will prioritize visitor dollars over their urgent needs, like education and housing, but what hangs in the balance is the livelihoods of many of them.
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“Maui on its own is clearly the biggest tourism hub of the neighbors, even in comparison to Honolulu,” said Peter Fuleky, professor of economics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. While the island only…
