The numbers are rather staggering. I appreciate the island culture being so cautious. Perhaps all states could learn something from them.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority says visitor arrivals to the islands in July fell by almost 98% compared with the same month last year.
A report released Thursday says 22,562 visitors arrived by air last month, compared with 995,210 travelers who arrived in Hawaii in July 2019.
Most of the visitors last month were from the U.S. mainland, and only about 2,100 were from international locations.
For the first seven months of the year, arrivals plummeted nearly 65%.
All arriving visitors are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine, a measure that for months seemed to keep the coronavirus at bay in Hawaii.
But now, after the local economy began to reopen and restrictions eased earlier this summer, Hawaii is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases, spurring yet another round of stay-at-home orders and business closures.
We have dear friends there who were temporarily laid off from their tourism related jobs. We have other friends On Kauai who were not affected. In either case, a state that depends on tourism must address this pandemic is a more aggressive manner. Kudos to them!
We have a trip planned for February. But with the pandemic, we plan to visit only Kauai, and skip our normal jaunts to Honolulu to see friends, and to Maui for its usual splendor.
Meanwhile, according to USA Today:
Tourists and travelers are beginning to return to Las Vegas, but mostly by highway and well below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels, according to airport and convention authority reports released Thursday.
McCarran International Airport said it handled 1.6 million arriving or departing passengers in July, down nearly two-thirds from the same month a year ago but up 56% from a million people in June.
Highway travel to Las Vegas approached the levels of summer 2019, reaching 90% of the total a year ago, according to the regional Convention and Visitors Authority. Traffic jams are again common on Interstate 15 when weekend visitors head home to Southern California.
I usually hit Vegas about twice a year. We have dear friends there, and we love to visit them. We go, not to gamble, but to visit, and perhaps some outdoor activities. Our friends who live there are now in California for the summer.
Whatever you do, please keep in mind that Hawaii and Vegas need our tourist dollars, once we get a vaccine, and return to a semi-normal travel routine.
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