The US state of Hawaii is dependent on the travel and tourism industries. In the past month, tourism arrivals rose slightly compared to any time in the pandemic. Will that be sustainable?

  • Hawaii’s visitor numbers from the US mainland had risen to a record high in the past 4 weeks
  • Hawaii also saw a record day today in the number of new COVID-19 cases in more than a month
  • Prince Kuhio Day is a welcome reason for tourism guides to celebrate and remain silent as this evolving situation for the Hawaiian travel and tourism industry, overall economy, and health situation

Today is Prince Kūhiō Day in Hawaii and government officials are unavailable to respond or comment on the alarming rise in COVID-19 infection in the state of Aloha in the past two days. Hawaii is now back in a three-digit trend, which has been accompanied by a steadily increasing number of visitors from the US mainland in recent weeks. Today the state registered 126 new cases.

Honolulu’s more outspoken Mayor Rick Blangiardi told eTurboNews in a statement:

Oahu is still in the tier 3 metric of the reopening strategy. The city is monitoring current conditions and notes that O’ahu has seen an increase in positive COVID-19 cases over the past week. Public health is a priority and the city continues to work with the Department of Health and health experts to assess current risks and make adjustments if necessary. We continue to safely open the economy so more people can get back to work. The community must also work together to prevent the virus from spreading by continuing to wear masks, staying physically aloof, and following the rules of the reopening strategy.

In the meantime, airline after airline is announcing new domestic flights to additional visitor markets. Some of these flights operate in regions that were considered secondary to Hawaii but primary markets to the Caribbean.

Given that international arrivals from Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand have not yet resumed, the surprising surge in domestic business was unexpected for many.

In the short term, the surge in visitor numbers is great news for hotels, attractions, restaurants, shops, and the transportation sector, but it can also be disaster in the long term.

As the Hawaii Tourism Authority celebrates Prince Kuhio Day today, hopefully there will be no comments on this situation until Monday, Easter Monday. One can only hope that this will be a silent issue by Monday, depending on the COVID-19 infection numbers over the next two days.

Meanwhile, Hawaii is very good at vaccinating its citizens. As of Monday, anyone aged 60 and over can get the vaccine, and all priority groups have now been vaccinated.

Why Hawaii is celebrating Prince Kuhio Day today?

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