The jarring contrast between those holidaying and those hurting is hard to bear for many in Hawaii.

The jarring contrast between those holidaying and those hurting is hard to bear for many in Hawaii.

      • AbackDeckWARLORD@sh.itjust.works
        53·
        1 year ago

        That’s an insane estimate lol. That’s how much Maldives would be at a nice hotel.

        This year it cost $5000 total for my package with 2 people in Kauai and we went expensive. Last year it was closer to $3000 for flights and hotel in Oahu.

          • AbackDeckWARLORD@sh.itjust.works
            1·
            1 year ago

            I’m not sure I understand your analogy. Someone making $10,000 is risking their financial stability either way by booking a trip that costs $3-10k. The money is already spent whether they go or not.

            I don’t think it’s feasible for tourists that are already there should immediately up and leave. But any tourist who is still flying in should have rebooked elsewhere else. Airlines are offering free changes and hotels usually have flexible cancellations, especially with travel insurance.

            The government should have positioned hotels as temporary shelters for Hawaiians that are displaced in this fire.

          • AbackDeckWARLORD@sh.itjust.works
            1·
            1 year ago

            You don’t just double the cost for more people. The kids wouldn’t be renting their own cars and you could get a room with 2 kings rather than separate rooms.

            In any case, the analogy doesn’t make sense because a family that can afford a $10,000 trip (when there are way cheaper options in even in Hawaii) can afford to switch their plans for a fee. They aren’t exactly worried about their financial stability. Airlines were offering to change for free anyways.

            • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
              2·
              1 year ago

              That would depend on the age of the kids. You’re right that a $10,000 trip for four would get you just about anywhere in the world, but whether its $5,000 or $500, a trip to Hawaii could be a once in a lifetime experience. Maybe they always dreamed of Hawaii instead of Fiji or Recife or the French Riviera. Nobody could have predicted these specific wildfires (climate scientists notwithstanding) when they were planning their trips.

              Airlines were scrambling to provide flights off the island, and while hotels and rental companies are extending refunds now, most are only now doing it in response to this precise backlash.

              I’m with you that people should leave the island, and visitors should delay or change their plans. Shit happens, and this sucks for everyone. But the people who have lost their homes, the people who have lost loved ones, they are the ones suffering and they have every right to be angry at the tourism industry that is still catering to clients above supporting relief efforts. Their anger is far more effective directed at the right people. Getting angry at crowds of tourists is like getting angry at the wildfire itself: understandable, but ineffectual.