Officials first told tourists with plans to travel to Maui to stay away. Now, the message has changed.
West Maui is losing about nine million dollars a day, and the rest of the island is feeling the impact. Gina Dello, a cafe owner in South Maui, said that business at her establishment came to a screeching halt in the wake of the fires.
The cafe is across the street from a beach, surrounded by surf and scuba shops, and Dello said that less tourist spending has had a"huge" impact. Typically, around three million tourists visit Maui each year, spending about $5.4 billion dollars in total, according to Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Before the wildfires, about 8,000 people arrived on Maui each day. Now, it's closer to 2,000 people.
"In reality we need the tourist dollar," Dello said."That's what drives people's incomes. It sustains their life. It puts food on their table for their families."
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