A May 20 letter writer has railed against the Maui Visitors Bureau for at least the last eight years, maybe longer. Can we say tired?
Every sitting mayor has ignored his complaints, as council members have. Why? Because the $3.5 million granted to MVB has generated at least $22 million dollars in transient accommodation taxes each year and a staggering $3.5 billion in revenue to hotels, shops, restaurants, activities, car rental companies, florists, bakeries, gas stations, farms and more. This includes me, my family members and my neighbors. I have learned tourism accounts for some 46 percent of jobs on Maui.
With all due respect, please take up some other cause. Kids are starving in Hawaii and our country. Our pristine Maui beaches are losing sand. Native Hawaiians are fighting for sovereignty. People are dying all across the world. Champion a cause you can actually win.
James Reiter
Wailuku
