Hawaii Governor David Ige said the airlines had agreed to « reinforce the message » that Hawaii currently has no aloha for tourists.
Hawaii Governor David Ige called on Monday Tourists on staying away from Hawaii as Covid-19 cases continue to rise and overwhelm the state’s healthcare system.
Ige stopped imposing travel restrictions that effectively crippled Hawaii’s tourism industry when he introduced them in March 2020. Instead, the governor urged people to voluntarily postpone non-essential travel to and from Hawaii until after October.
« You would have a much, much better experience » if tourists waited until late fall to get to the islands visit, Ige said on Monday.
The governor said the government is asking tourism companies to let potential travelers know that Hawaii just isn’t fully prepared for them. For example, restaurants are half full and there is a huge shortage of rental cars, he noted.
Ige admitted that asking tourists not to come was small businesses that are just beginning to recover , could seriously hurt.
« Our call to keep trips to the islands to the bare minimum will certainly have an impact on the number of visitors, » he said.
Tourism industry executives expressed their general support for Iges Call off. But it wasn’t clear how willing the companies would be to put customers off.
Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawaii Hotel Alliance, a hotel trade group, said the organization supported the governor’s message. Gibson declined to say, however, whether the industry would take steps to reduce the demand for leisure travel, for example by raising room rates so high that people wouldn’t want to come.
Instead, travelers were already starting to Avoid Hawaii as the Delta variant dampened wanderlust.
In a written statement, Gibson stated: “With Hawaii hospitals on the verge of disaster and the Delta variant raging through the unvaccinated community on our islands, stands by the Hawaii Hotel Alliance with Governor Ige and our four district mayors, reiterating the need to address this pandemic head-on. There’s a season for everything, and right now the hospitality industry is focused on helping our city, state, and federal leaders, first responders, and our medical community deal with this pandemic. ”
Ige said he was up Met with some airlines on Friday and they agreed to consider a reverse marketing campaign: send the message that tourists are not welcome, at least for now.
« I asked, and all airlines said they would trying to do whatever it takes to reinforce the message, « he said.
Ige declined to say which airlines he met but said he understood that the industry was still financially out of business the Covid-19 crisis that grounded many fleets for much of 2019. Iges 14-day quarantine for travelers to Hawaii who are now 10. is days and can be bypassed if a traveler is vaccinated or has a negative Covid test that largely cripples the visitor industry for much of 2019.
The governor said he couldn’t talk to airline executives about fares, Talking about schedules or flights as it could be antitrust violations.
Alex Da Silva, a spokesman for Hawaiian Airlines, the state’s dominant airline and one of the largest employers, said the airline supports the safety of Hawaii. However, the company’s statement was noticeably missing any mention that Ige’s message was reinforced that tourists should stay away.
“We are very aware of the strain on our health system from new COVID-19 cases, and our hearts go out to it the people concerned, « said a statement by the airline. “We continue to believe that increasing the vaccination rate in our community is the single most valuable measure in dealing with this crisis. Because of this, we announced our intention to vaccinate our staff. ”Hawaiian House spokesman Scott Saiki was more blunt, noting that public health statistics show that residents, not tourists, are predominant responsible for the spread of Covid-19.
« The governor said nothing today that will improve the Covid numbers in Hawaii, » Saiki said. « It should have been more accurate when traveling. »
Saiki noted that public health data shows that tourists are generally not responsible for the spread of Covid-19 in Hawaii.
Instead of the welcome mat im In general, Saiki said, Ige should have said Hawaii wants all visitors to be vaccinated or that residents shouldn’t travel to Covid-19 hotspots like Las Vegas.
Ige declined to say which is stricter Would trigger restrictions, but acknowledged that if cases continued to grow exponentially, it could do so.
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