The Hawaiʻi Hotel Alliance was created in 2021 to get out in front of issues in the hospitality industry. Jerry Gibson was tapped to be its first chairperson.
First came the pandemic. Then, there was the move to defund the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority and cut the marketing contracts. Now the focus is recovering from the Maui wildfires.
The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority just set aside $2.6 million for a marketing campaign for Maui. Visitors are invited to return to West Maui starting Oct. 8, but occupancies are also low in South Maui, Gibson said.
"I don't think that there's going to be a huge influx of tourists coming yet. I think it will be very, very slow beginning and by May, June next year, it will start to ramp up a little bit because of the summer. And hopefully, it will begin to get better. But I think 2024 is going to be not a robust year, obviously, in Maui," Gibson said.
Gibson believes the timeshare segment of tourism will lead recovery on the Valley Isle.
"Timeshare led after Iniki. Timeshare led after the virus. And they are going to lead now because with timeshare, you get people that own their units mostly and you get repeat guests," he told The Conversation.
He said the group thinks timeshare visitors will be mindful guests because they are used to being on Maui.
At a press conference Thursday, Gov. Josh Green emphasized that survivors from the Maui wildfires will not be kicked out of hotel rooms to make room for tourists.
"What it looks like for October and November are individuals traveling to Maui are very often people that have been here many times before, that have a long-standing relationship with the islands, that are well-known to those hotels, and therefore they are the kind of travelers that have been able to absorb some of our culture and should be thoughtful," Green said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Sept. 22, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
