With West Maui Preparing To Resume Tourism, Being Mindful and Reverent Is Key

In a matter of weeks, West Maui will begin welcoming travelers again after a hiatus brought about by the most devastating wildfires in Hawaii’s history.

For many, Governor Josh Green’s emergency proclamation lifting the travel ban is not a moment too soon.

The island has experienced an estimated loss of more than $11 million per day as a result of the August 9th wildfires, which halted all nonessential travel.

A total of 88 transpacific flights were canceled in August alone and the passenger count to Kahului Airport decreased by more than 70 percent after the tragedy—declining from 7,000 per day to just 2,000 per day.

As the travel ban has lingered on, many businesses in areas on Maui not impacted by the fires have seen commerce slow to a trickle, which has been devastating in its own way.

“This is going to be the next catastrophe if we don’t get tourism going again,” Debbie Misajon, owner of Hawaii-based The Coconut Traveler, told TravelPulse. “Everyone is saying this is so much like Covid-19 and the lack of travelers we had then. Having 3,000 rental cars sitting in agency lots is not good economically.”

Travelers returning to Maui is essential to its future and to the survival of the countless residents who make their living through tourism. But at the same time, Misajon and others would like to see that return take place in a thoughtful manner. 


Repeating a phrase she’s found herself saying over and over again in recent days and weeks, Misajon says renewed tourism in Maui needs to be “gentle and generous.”

“People do need to come back and experience Maui as it is today and that will feel healing as well,” explains Misajon. “Tourism is the largest industry on the island, so it’s critical for travelers to start returning. But just be mindful…I know that’s hard, because we don’t go on holiday to be mindful of the people serving us.”

Hana Highway in Maui, Hawaii. (photo via ironrodart/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

What Should Mindful Tourism in Maui Look Like?

Under the emergency proclamation signed by Green, travelers will be able to begin visiting Nāpili, Kāʻanapali, and Kapalua (areas of West Maui not hit by the wildfires) once again starting October 8.

But what should that return look like and feel like as other parts of West Maui continue to recover? That question is particularly complex in the wake of a deadly event that had an incalculable emotional toll on local residents.  

As Misajon herself pointed out—tourists don’t go on holiday to be mindful of the people serving them.

But therein also lies a challenge the tourism industry has been grappling with long before the Maui wildfires. It’s been the elephant in the room since the COVID-19 pandemic. Or long before, really.

What should mindful tourism look like? And is there a location-based, nuanced version of mindful tourism as communities around the world face their own unique sets of challenges?

“When events like the Maui wildfires happen that have an impact on tourism, it exposes systemic issues we’re facing as an industry and they become glaring,” Jake Haupert, co-founder of Transformational Travel Council, explained during a recent interview with TravelPulse.

“Some of those systemic issues are not related to why we travel and how we travel," Haupert adds. "It’s a reflection of a major dysfunction we have within tourism. But beyond that, there’s also the expectation and the entitlement that we have really created within the tourism industry.”

Under the best of circumstances, or in its purest form, travel should be a mutually beneficial exchange. But Haupert says there’s something of a dark cloud over what travel and tourism has become in many instances.

“We’re supposed to travel with a conscience and be mindful and reverent,” continues Haupert. Often however, individuals travel with what he describes as need-based views focused on “What can you do for me?”

“That’s dysfunctional and that leads to exploitation and extraction. That’s the dysfunctionality being exposed in this moment,” he says.

So, how do these questions relate to Maui and the return of tourists in October? They couldn’t be more important.

Traveling with Intentionality

Both Misajon and Haupert offered specific thoughts on the ways in which tourists might explore Maui post-October 8.

To begin with, that could include tourists focusing on being “thoughtful, conscious, and caring,” when visiting the island and West Maui in particular, says Haupert.

And to help with that effort, tourists could seek guidance from travel advisors and travel companies on how to engage in Maui.

Travel professionals, in turn, should be prepared to provide such education and help ensure that visitors are informed about their impact as they plan the details of vacations and activities in Maui.

“Tourism should provide expertise and knowledge on this front. Many of the more conscious companies will provide that and are guiding travelers to make more mindful decisions—not decisions driven by corporate greed,” says Haupert.

In practice, that might mean travelers looking at a vacation in Maui (or elsewhere, for that matter) holistically and asking themselves this question: What can I do that's going to be caring and compassionate while visiting—even if that means not always being able to do exactly what I want to do?

Seeking out and supporting local small businesses, for instance, is an important choice when returning to Maui. As is being conscious about use of local resources while visiting and not engaging in activities like driving around the entire island in a gas guzzling jeep, suggests Haupert.

Ultimately, he says, tourists need to ask themselves hard questions about how they’re participating in travel and tourism.

At the same time, the sense of entitlement and expectation that travelers often carry with them must be addressed by the travel industry—both in Maui and beyond.

“We can’t be ‘Yes-men’ to tourists anymore. We need to guide and support tourists to travel better,” adds Haupert. “Bring back mindfulness and really connecting travel back to its superpowers and relationships, cultural reciprocity—the core reasons of why we travel and the benefits of why we travel.”

As he talks about and reflects on the situation in West Maui, Haupert returns repeatedly to a few key ideas: Mindful. Impactful. Reverent travel.

“I’m not intimately involved with what’s happening on ground or with the healing process that’s unfolding there, but there has to be a very intentional plan in place to reengage the economic engine,” Haupert concludes. “And it needs to be done in a way that invites and appreciates those travel companies that are going to be more respectful, mindful, and reverent—as opposed to just looking at it from the perspective of ‘We’re just going to open up the flood gates.'”

Haupert’s sentiments echo those expressed by Misajon, whose phones at The Coconut Traveler recently started ringing again with inquiries from travelers interested in visiting Maui for Christmas and beyond.

The return of tourists to Maui is desperately needed, says Misajon, whose been regularly sharing information via LinkedIn about about shop owners and others on the island who are suffering amid the lack of visitors. She describes the situation the island is now experiencing as critical.

But in addition to stressing the need for visitors to come back, Misajon once again underscores the importance of balancing that return with a heightened consciousness among travelers.

“I hope people are understanding. It’s not just about the fire and the rebuilding,” says Misajon. “It's become very, very deep seated emotionally. Lahaina was the original capital of Hawaiian kingdom."

“So, it’s about sensitivity really,” she adds. “If you can come to the island, come to areas that are unaffected and be gentle and generous."

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