Stop Travel to Hawaii: This is now official!

  • Hawaii Governor. David Ige today called upon Hawaii residents and visitors to delay all non-essential travel through the end of October 2021 due to the recent, accelerated surge in COVID-19 cases that is now overburdening the state’s health care facilities and resources.
  • Governor Ige made the announcement today at a media briefing, noting that, “Our hospitals are reaching capacity and our ICUs are filling up. Now is not a good time to travel to Hawaii.” 
  • Governor Ige added, “It will take six to seven weeks to see significant change in the number of COVID cases. It is a risky time to be traveling right now. Everyone, residents and visitors alike, should reduce travel to essential business activities only.”

Hawaii is still packed with visitors. Shopping malls like the Ala Moana Shopping Center, Waikiki, and most hotels are full. FLights are sold out, but this may be ending very soon.

With up to 1000 new cases of COVID-19, hospitals full, tourism is no longer sustainable at this moment in the Aloha State. Authorities in Hawaii and the rest of the United States had put the economy over health, and this mistake now shows – and it is frightening. Hawaii as an island state has even bigger challenges.

John De Fries, president, and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority noted that even though visitor arrivals overall are already starting to decline, as is historically the case in the fall, visitors should consider postponing their travels to Hawaii. 

“Our community, residents, and the visitor industry are responsible for working together to address this crisis,” De Fries said. “As such, we are strongly advising visitors that now is not the right time to travel, and they should postpone their trips through the end of October.”

Dr. Elizabeth Char, director of the Department of Health, emphasized the urgency of the current situation. “The surge of COVID cases is mainly due to community spread, followed by residents flying to hotspot areas abroad and bringing COVID back into their households and community,” Char said. “If things do not change, our health care systems will be crippled and those needing medical care for all types of diseases, injuries, and conditions, including our visitors, may find it difficult to get the treatment they need right away.”

The Hawaii-based World Tourism Network urged the Hawaii Tourism Authority and Hawaii Governor Ige to act, but this request was ignored and responded by banning this publication to ask questions at press events.

eTurboNews predicted restrictions are forthcoming, and this is the first step today.

Juergen Steinmetz, chairman of the World Tourism Network said in response to this announcement: I am pleased to see HTA finally speaking out. Obviously, this is also our home, and what happens here makes it very personal. We again offer the Hawaii Tourism Authority our support to work with our global network and experts and leaders in 128 countries to coordinate and maneuver through this dangerous crisis.

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