HONOLULU (KHON2) – Hawaii is expecting more visitors on Thursday, July 8th, after Governor David Ige announced looser travel restrictions.

In some areas, like Waikiki, it looks like days before the pandemic.

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In Kauai and Maui, however, officials fear it will be too much and too soon.

“It may have been a little too fast for Maui as an island, but we will make it and come out strong on this Maui nui,” said Mike Victorino, Maui County’s mayor.

Staffing, Pandemic Restrictions Affecting Services in Hawaii Tourism Industry

Tourism management is something that the Maui County Council has been working on.

“We look at Oahu because I think Hanauma Bay is a great example of how to collect fees, take reservations, and that way provide a more orderly type of experience for everyone,” said Alice Lee, Maui County Council Chair.

Hawaiian residents want better management of the booming tourism industry

Similar measures are being considered on the Garden Isle, where daily visitor numbers to the mainland have increased from a few hundred people a day in March to around 2,500 a day in June.

“In all fairness, it looks like we’re busy or almost full in terms of visitor numbers,” said Derek Kawakami, Kauai County Mayor.

The Hawaiian tourism industry is launching a campaign aimed at “mindful travelers” when more visitors arrive

Restaurants anticipate the changes in capacity rules, but labor shortages add an additional stress factor.

“That doesn’t help us increase our capacity or have more demand because the reality is that demand is already there on all the islands,” said Dylan Ching, vice president of operations at TS Restaurants. “They are running on what we would call maximum capacity at the moment, because of the rules and because of the bottlenecks.”

Officials hope they can find a solution that will benefit both local residents and visitors.

“We hope this work will bring us back to some sort of balance and work with the industry to overcome tourism and the reliance on diversifying our economy,” said Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, a member of Maui County Council.

Maui county officials say they plan to work with state lawmakers to find other options for better managing tourism.