Hawaii’s Governor has invited visitors to resume leisure and business travel to the state from Nov. 1. The announcement was made at the opening of the new international terminal at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport on Tuesday.
“Beginning Nov 1, we want to invite and encourage fully vaccinated visitors and residents to travel for business or leisure transpacific and inter-island,” said the governor.
Some travelers may be confused by the statement because the island has never been shut down to non-essential or unvaccinated visitors
However, two months ago authorities urged travelers to halt all non-essential travel as the island was experiencing a concerning surge in Covid-19 cases owing to the spread of the Delta strain.
By that time, ICUs were exceeding capacity across the state.
Although the recommendation was only that, a recommendation, it caused confusion among travelers and hotel bookings plummeted to levels never seen before.
Fortunately, a lot has changed since the pandemic’s deadliest days on the island and the new travel advice comes as Hawaii’s daily COVID-19 cases continue a downward trend after their latest spike.
“Our hospitals are doing better… our health care system has responded, and we have the ability to move forward with economic recovery.”
“Because of this, it is now safe for fully vaccinated residents and visitors to resume non-essential travel to and within the State of Hawaii,” concluded the governor.
The announcement is nothing but the result of a joint effort from all tourism sectors.
Mufi Hannemann, president, and CEO of the Hawaiian Lodging and Tourism Association said the state coalition of tourism, restaurants, retail, land and air transportation, unions, and chambers of commerce worked hard to ensure the island could be reopened to all visitors on November 1.
“While we recognize that there are still details that need to be worked out, paying particular attention to input from… the healthcare community and business sector, this announcement is an important first step in moving our economy forward,” Hannemann said.