The Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa is virtually a ghost town on Sept. 22. Visitor arrivals to Maui plummeted after the Aug. 8 wildfires but are expected to return with the reopening of tourism in West Maui on Sunday, which the governor says is necessary to get people back to work but others say is too soon for a traumatized community. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Tourism on Maui in August took a major hit from the fires in Lahaina and Kula, sending visitor arrivals down nearly 60 percent from last year and cutting visitor spending in half compared to 2022.

Maui saw 112,259 visitors in August, down 57.8 percent from 266,176 visitors in August 2022, while spending went from $484 million at the same time last year to $246.7 million in August, according to preliminary statistics released by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism last week.

August arrival numbers were the lowest since February 2021, when there were 92,611 visitors. Spending was also the lowest since March 2021, when visitors spent $262.3 million.

The University of Hawai’i Economic Research Organization said that travelers responded to the fires’ horror and early appeals to stay away and that Maui lost more than $13 million in visitor spending each day in the weeks following the fires.

Employment effects of the fires “have been rapid and severe,” with the fires destroying “the vast majority of businesses and jobs in Lahaina,” UHERO said in its 2023 third quarter forecast report on Sept. 22. Local businesses across Maui are also struggling from the lower visitor numbers.

UHERO predicted that Maui unemployment “will soar above” 11 percent in the fourth quarter and will not dip below 4 percent until late 2026.

Normally there would be 130 to 140 unemployment claims on Maui per week, but in the first week of the fires there were around 800, followed by more than 4,000 unemployment claims the next week, UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham said in a “UHERO Focus” video. If the claims are added together since the fire, the total is close to 10,000 filings, or 11 to 12 percent of the workforce on Maui, Bonham said.

Tax revenue will also be hit hard, according to UHERO. But the reopening of West Maui to tourism on Sunday will help to reduce revenue losses, as will Maui’s 0.5 percent general excise tax surcharge that begins Jan. 1. Some areas are already seeing “the beginnings of Maui tourism recovery,” with Central and South Maui resorts being the first areas “to see substantial recovery,” UHERO said.

Bonham attributed this to airlines such as Alaska and Hawaiian putting out “extremely attractive” airfares to Maui.

Even with the reopening of tourism in West Maui, “we expect recovery there to be gradual,” UHERO said.

Tourism remains a major driver for Maui and the state — Bonham said that about 40 percent of Maui’s economy is from tourism, and that visitor spending on Maui makes up about one-third of visitor spending in the state.

Gov. Josh Green announced in early September that West Maui would reopen to tourism this month, citing the need to get residents back to work and prevent them from having to leave the island. Last week, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen announced a phased approach, with a staggered return of tourism to the west side hotel properties and areas.

On Sunday, The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua will reopen along with areas from Kapalua to Kahana Villa, the county said. The next phase will be Mahinahina to Maui Kaanapali Villas, following an assessment of the first phase. The area from the Royal Lahaina Resort to the Hyatt Regency will be the last phase to give displaced residents sheltered in the area more time to find housing options.

But residents have testified before the Maui County Council and at other meetings, saying they do not want the visitors back yet as some residents are still having a hard time dealing with the tragedy and putting their lives back to together.

On Tuesday, West Maui residents delivered a petition to the governor’s office in the State Capitol on Oahu with more than 10,000 signatures urging Green to push back the reopening date. The online petition had more than 16,000 signatures as of Thursday.

With the fires keeping tourists away, Maui County’s hotels saw drops in occupancy, average daily rates and revenue per available room in August.

The county had a 52.2 percent occupancy rate in August, down 16.4 percentage points versus the 68.6 percent seen in August 2022. Average daily rates in the county were $563.62, down 8.6 percent compared to the average daily rate of $616.50 seen in 2022. Revenue per available room in August was $294.02, down 30.4 percent versus 2022, when revenue per available room was at $422.63.

As expected, hotels in the Lahaina, Kaanapali and Kapalua areas saw some of the more significant drops in August.

Occupancy was at 45.4 percent, down 26.4 percentage points versus August 2022, when West Maui hotels were 71.8 percent occupied.

Average daily room rates were slightly down at $515.13 in August, a decline of 4.2 percent compared to the rate of $537.82 in August 2022.

Revenue per available room for the West Maui hotels was at $233.90 in August, down 39.4 percent versus the $386.11 seen in August 2022.

The aftermath of the fires also ate away at tourism at Maui’s luxury region in Wailea, although the area still had some of the highest rates and room revenue across the state in August.

Occupancy in Wailea was at 56.5 percent in August, down 3.2 percentage points compared to 59.6 percent in August 2022.

Average daily rates were $816.62, down 20.3 percent versus August 2022, when average daily rates were $1,024.77.

Revenue per available room was $461.11, down 24.5 percent compared to August 2022, which saw room revenue at $611.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism further explained the decrease in visitors to Maui as due in part to fewer flights, as 88 direct trans-Pacific flights to Kahului in August were canceled due to the Lahaina fire. This included 68 flights from the U.S. West, seven flights from the U.S. East and 13 flights from Canada.

Also in August, the Pride of America cruise ship that usually spends two days in Kahului Harbor on each seven-day inter-island tour canceled its port of calls to Kahului, instead adding one more day in Hilo and one more day at Nawiliwili on Kauai for each tour for the last three weeks of the month.

DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka said in a news release that as the state welcomes the return of visitors to West Maui, including Napili, Kaanapali, Honokowai and Kapalua, “we will be supporting Maui’s economy and keeping our people employed so they can continue to live on Maui and recover.”

“We encourage respectful travel, supporting local businesses, and participation in volunteer opportunities that malama (give back to) Hawaii,” he said.

For more information on how to volunteer while in the islands, see gohawaii.com/malama.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.