2023-09-10 02:26:50
world mirror
The worst forest and bush fires in the USA in more than 100 years raged in Hawaii. Many people are still missing. The suffering left by the fires is also exacerbating old conflicts.
Dark, charred earth – white wooden crosses remind us of the dead and missing. This is where the fire raced that almost completely destroyed Lahaina. When the wind blows in from the sea, the smell of burning can still be smelled weeks after the inferno.
Just a few kilometers down the coast, it seems at first glance as if the disaster never happened: surfers on palm-lined beaches, turquoise water and turtles occasionally poking their heads out of the water.
Tourism authorities advise against traveling
On one of these beaches, a little more than a half-hour drive from Lahaina, Vene Chun, who offers canoe trips, pushes an outrigger canoe into the water. The boat actually fits five paddlers. Today there are two: Patti Granoff from Dallas and her friend Melissa. The yoga teacher used to live in Hawaii and thought about canceling her trip. “My friends at home said: You can’t drive, that’s disrespectful. But then some of the people I booked with called themselves and said: Please come, Patti.” Now she is happy to be on Maui.
It’s Vene Chun’s first trip in about a month, he says. Immediately after the fires, those affected demanded that tourists stay away. To this day, the tourism authority strongly advises against traveling to West Maui to the tourist areas north of Lahaina. According to the authorities, hotels there are not accepting reservations. Because these hotels along the coast house those who lost everything in Lahaina. They are shielded from visitors and the public so that they can mourn in peace.
Vene Chun with two US tourists on the beach.
Losses of millions per day
The message has arrived – apparently clearer than hoped. Since the fires, bookings have plummeted across Maui. Planes arrive half empty. Airlines still warn against traveling to the island in their apps. The Hawaii Tourism Authority estimates that Maui’s economy is losing $11 million a day in tourism revenue since the fires. Applications for unemployment benefits jumped from an average of 130 per day to 2,705 in the third week after the fires.
This is probably why Josh Green, the governor of Hawaii, appeals to vacationers from all over the world: Other parts of Maui and the other islands are safe and open to visitors. Tourism is the most important industry not only for Maui, but for all of the Hawaiian islands.
In some parts of the beach it seems as if the fire disaster never happened.
Fire damage exacerbates old conflicts
Lahaina is not just a tourist magnet that has burned to the ground. As the former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the site has deep meaning for many Hawaiians. For them, part of their culture has also been irretrievably destroyed.
A conflict over dependence on tourism has been simmering for a long time. Because nowhere in the USA is life as expensive as in Hawaii: more than 85 percent of the food is imported to the islands. This drives up prices. Conflicts over resources such as water are exacerbating the situation. It particularly affects those who have lived on the islands in the middle of the Pacific for generations. That’s why voices are being raised among Hawaiians who no longer want tourism on their islands.
White crosses remind us of the missing and those who died.
Desire for sustainable tourism
Vein Chun sees this in a more nuanced way. In addition to the canoe tours, he also carries out wedding ceremonies – also for holidaymakers. Especially after the fires, it is important that the economic basis of life is not lost, he says. After all, you can only help others if you have enough to live on yourself.
Vene Chun shares his knowledge of Hawaiian culture. His ancestors lived in harmony with nature, he says. He hopes that the wildfires and destruction of Lahaina will lead to a return to these values. His wish: Tourism that respects and values the culture of the Hawaiians. And offers him and many others the opportunity to produce and grow what is needed on the islands themselves. Because living more sustainably, not being dependent on individual industries – that is not only important for Hawaiians, but for everyone.
You can see these and other reports on Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. in “Weltspiegel”.
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