Maui mayor asks airlines for fewer tourists amid travel boom, as destinations globally face problems caused by Covid shutdowns
- One of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, the Hawaiian island is struggling with the return of US holidaymakers
- Meanwhile, in Europe, car rental prices are two or three times higher as demand increases
The Hawaiian island of Maui is struggling to cope with the sudden return of the holidaying masses while, in Europe, holidaymakers are finding it difficult and expensive to hire rental cars.
“Over-tourism” has long been a complaint of locals on Maui, which is among the world’s most popular getaways: congested roads, crowded beaches, packed restaurants. But as the US begins to emerge from the pandemic, Maui is reeling from some of the same strains seen on the mainland, such as a shortage of hospitality workers. And its restaurants, still operating at limited capacity, are struggling to keep up.
Now, as cooped-up American mainlanders return in droves, Maui officials are making an unusual plea to airlines: please don’t bring so many people to our island.
“We don’t have the authority to say stop, but we are asking the powers to be to help us,” mayor Michael Victorino said at a recent news conference.
Hawaii has had some of the nation’s most stringent coronavirus public health restrictions, and it’s the only state that hasn’t fully reopened, in part due to its remote location and limited hospitals. Also high on people’s minds is the memory of diseases that wiped out 80 per cent of the Native Hawaiian population in the century after Europeans arrived. The governor doesn’t plan on lifting all restrictions until 70 per cent of the state’s population is vaccinated. As of Friday, 58 per cent were.
