Well said. Even if there were enough hotels available it doesn’t sound like there are many restaurants left.From afar that seems all nice and dandy. Reality is that in 3 months most will still be displaced from their homes in temp housing and figuring out what they will do next. 80 pct of the city was wiped out and tree roots underground are still burning and thus ongoing management of the fire is key and avoiding any re ignition of the fire is critical.
Your heart is in the right place but in my extended experience with numerous disasters and recovery, the majority of the population isn't going to be wondering how soon they can get tourists back filling up hotels with this kind of devastation. Not to mention that the limited access to key utilities is much different on an island than the mainland. For an extended period power will be primarily from large generators. Cell service, towers and other utilities will take a long time to rebuild and again at the mercy of the fire risk being qualmed.
Lahaina will take a long time to be back open for business. Also those hotel rooms might become living quarters too while things get sorted with FEMA which can take time. Also there are 93 dead and counting. That's as many as 93 families looking to grieve and honor their lost loved ones. For those who lived there, that's 93 funeral services.. and so on.
So far the smartest play seems esomewhere else in Hawaii like at Hawaii U where you can handle a bigger crowd and thus then collect more to benefit the people of Lahaina.
How should this affect the Sentry golf tournament which is considered a signature event for the PGA, scheduled for the first week of January 2024 to be held at the Kapalua GC in Maui?From afar that seems all nice and dandy. Reality is that in 3 months most will still be displaced from their homes in temp housing and figuring out what they will do next. 80 pct of the city was wiped out and tree roots underground are still burning and thus ongoing management of the fire is key and avoiding any re ignition of the fire is critical.
Your heart is in the right place but in my extended experience with numerous disasters and recovery, the majority of the population isn't going to be wondering how soon they can get tourists back filling up hotels with this kind of devastation. Not to mention that the limited access to key utilities is much different on an island than the mainland. For an extended period power will be primarily from large generators. Cell service, towers and other utilities will take a long time to rebuild and again at the mercy of the fire risk being qualmed.
Lahaina will take a long time to be back open for business. Also those hotel rooms might become living quarters too while things get sorted with FEMA which can take time. Also there are 93 dead and counting. That's as many as 93 families looking to grieve and honor their lost loved ones. For those who lived there, that's 93 funeral services.. and so on.
So far the smartest play seems esomewhere else in Hawaii like at Hawaii U where you can handle a bigger crowd and thus then collect more to benefit the people of Lahaina.
How should this affect the Sentry golf tournament which is considered a signature event for the PGA, scheduled for the first week of January 2024 to be held at the Kapalua GC in Maui?
I don't think people realize how hard it was before all this happened to get things shipped there. Like all things. Logistics are insane, this was BEFORE the fires. This is way bigger than, there's a couple hotels still there let's fill them with tourists. Hawaiians are begging tourists to stay away, this isn't something that'll be solved in a matter of months. A good amount of those hotel rooms will be filled with residents and workers for the rebuild. Not to mention, imagine people coming to play in a town where your relatives or close knit community had people jumping into the ocean, old and young and dying, along with people dying everywhere else. It's a tragedy and should be thought of that way before anyone else's "fun time" is thought of
I understand what you're saying on point #3 but that's pretty out of touch with reality on the ground there. Not saying it won't be different 3 months from now but still planning for a basketball tournament is just down right outrageousA few thoughts on this:
1) For Maui, the point of the Maui Invitational is to promote tourism.
2) The vast majority of hotel rooms on Maui are undamaged yet few tourists will visit because of the tragedy. This may linger for years.
3) The Lahaina Civic Center is undamaged. There will be plenty of available hotel rooms. Why not keep the tournament in Lahaina in order to demonstrate that, despite the tragedy, Maui is open for tourism? They really, really need the business.
Been heartbreaking to watch all the interviews and folks who are there but one common thing ALL of them have said "please don't visit", "don't come here to vacation right now". Visitors or something like this tournament will take housing away from the actual locals. Hopefully folks are being mindful of this
It feels callous to even think about the tournament right now.I understand what you're saying on point #3 but that's pretty out of touch with reality on the ground there. Not saying it won't be different 3 months from now but still planning for a basketball tournament is just down right outrageous
Disaster tourists are the worst! We had a tornado go through our neighborhood when I lived in Georgia as a kid. Very minor in scope compared to Hawaii - no deaths, just a lot of trees on houses etc and general damage like that. I remember seeing one of my classmates riding in a car going down our street. She did not live in the neighborhood, but was just there to look at everything and be nosy and get in the way. Still makes me mad thinking about it today.Yes. This goes 2 ways too. It's in part tourists in the normal sense but also disaster tourists- the folks who are simply trying to soak in the devastation and destruction or film it all for clicks.
It feels callous to even think about the tournament right now.
And good luck getting a reservation for dinner.More importantly - logistically impossible.
With so many homes, stores, hotels, restaurants, bars, markets, etc burned -
Where exactly would all these players and tourists even stay?
Any intact buildings are likely going to be used as emergency shelters and hospitals, etc for an extended period.
Having a hoops tournament there is the exact last thing that should be on anybody’s minds now.