Community meeting to be held at Maui Arts & Cultural Center, December 4.
HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) is encouraging Maui residents to provide input on proposed actions for tourism to support Maui’s recovery in 2024. The draft strategies and actions were informed by input from the Maui community and are part of HTA’s response to the Tourism Emergency Declaration by Hawai‘i State Governor Josh Green, M.D. on August 19.
HTA held a community meeting at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center on December 4 and shared the proposed actions gathered from Maui residents. More than 200 people attended the meeting in-person and on Zoom.
“We take everyone’s thoughts, concerns and suggestions seriously and will be incorporating feasible actions in this process,” said Daniel Nāho‘opi‘i, HTA’s interim president and CEO. “We thank everyone for their participation, including Councilmembers Keani Rawlins-Fernandez and Tom Cook who joined us and for their continued support.”
The following draft actions aim to support and enhance HTA’s ongoing efforts to help revitalize quality tourism in a responsible manner based on input from the Maui community, economic data, and stakeholders statewide. The actions will be guided by HTA’s Strategic Plan and community-driven Maui Nui Destination Management Action Plan.
- Increase visibility and call-to-action for travel to Hawai‘i targeting high-potential markets.
- Support businesses to continue providing a consistent message that Maui is open for mindful and respectful visitors.
- Support and encourage consistent messaging and outreach to all Maui residents and businesses.
- Support Maui small businesses that are experiencing significant reductions in sales because of the lower number of visitors on the island.
- Expand tourism product on Maui to provide new activities for visitors and support Maui businesses.
- Support providing longer-term housing for wildfire impacted households living in visitor-type accommodations by appealing to Transient Vacation Rental (TVR) owners.
Maui residents are encouraged to review the initial draft actions and provide feedback online by Friday, December 15. The updated draft will be presented to the HTA Board of Directors during their upcoming board meeting on Thursday, December 21.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
