more than a century, has devastated the town.

They have expressed their anger on social media platforms by posting pictures of tourists enjoying holiday activities in Maui while the death toll in the resort town of Lahaina has crossed 100 and is expected to go higher.

“Our community needs time to heal, grieve, and restore,” Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa posted on Instagram. He also urged tourists to cancel their trips to Lahaina.

According to a report by Reuters, authorities and businesses have welcomed the trickle of travelers, saying it will lessen the blow to the island’s economy, which relies heavily on tourism. 

The tourism industry is Maui’s “economic engine”, generating 80% of its wealth, said the report citing the island’s economic development board. Last weekend at a press conference,Josh Green, Hawaii governor had recalled that the Covid-19 pandemic similarly forced the state to weigh the risks of allowing tourists in during a public health crisis against the harm Hawaii’s economy would suffer from barring them.

“All of our people will need to survive, and we can’t afford to have no jobs or no future for our children,” Green had said. “When you restrict any travel to a region, you really devastate its own local residents in many ways more than anyone else.” 

Tourism has been badly affected in the week since the wildfire devastated Lahaina.

The number of airline passengers to Maui on Sunday fell nearly 81% as compared to the same time last year, said the report citing the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

According to the report, in 2022, 2.9 million tourists visited Maui, which has a year-round population of 165,000. The state tourism department reported in February that visitors spent $5.69 billion on Maui in 2022. 

Updated: 16 Aug 2023, 09:33 PM IST