Outlook for Tourism on Maui; Combining Jazz and Reggae with Monty Alexander; Land Use on the Valley Isle; Magician-Storyteller Yasu Ishida
Maui’s Tourism Industry: Terryl Vencl
All week, we’ve heard from different voices on Maui about the changes the island is undergoing and how Maui is well, different from other islands. If you missed any of the segments, we’ve compiled them into a podcast - it’s on our website.hawaiipiblicradio.org. Getting visitors to recognize Maui’s special qualities is clearly working: last year Maui logged a record number of visitor arrivals and an increase in both daily spending and days spent on Maui. That’s the reason, the tourism industry is driving some of the change on Maui - the airport area is just one example and the impact of other Maui changes will also affect visitors’ experiences. TerrylVencl is Executive Director of the Maui Visitor’s Bureau and joins us now.
Intro Music: Lust for Life by Iggy Pop
Outro Music: I Could Go by Oberhofer
Blue Note Hawaii Artist: Monty Alexander
Pianist Monty Alexander’s career has taken him far from his Kingston, Jamaica birthplace over the course of his career, but you never entirely leave your home behind -- at least not when musical influences are as strong as they are in Jamaica. He has brought an island feel to six decades of performing at the highest level of the international jazz scene, and brings it to the forefront in his latest incarnation, the Harlem Kingston Express. The band is performing this week in Waikiki, and Monty is with us in our studio
Intro Music: Hurricane Come and Gone by Monty Alexander
Outro Music: Skamento by Monty Alexander
We often hear that land should be zoned according to its highest and best use, but conflicts over what that means often translates into challenges that take years to complete. In a small place, growing as quickly as Maui’s population has expanded, what to do with Maui’s finite land continues to drive the county’s plan; and rankle at least some part of the community. The widening housing gap and more people forecast to come to Maui in the next decades are part of the claim on land - and water. There’s also the question of how agriculture will be reinvigorated and what happens with the HC & S land. Michele McLean is Deputy Director of Maui County Department of Planning and she’s on the line now.
Intro Music: Town Square Theme
Outro Music: Follow by Diiv
Storyteller and Magician: Yasu Ishida
A good magician need to be a storyteller, and a really good storyteller is a kind of magician, so Yasu Ishida’s merger of the two crafts makes a lot of sense. He came to America from Japan to expand his art, and he’s in the middle of a tour of Hawaii libraries his show "Wondrous Stories Through Magical Papers.
Intro Music: Yuudachi by Agatsuma
Outro Music: Nabbed by Yoshida Brothers
