HONOLULU (AP) — Line-Noue Memea Kruse lives on Oahu’s famed North Shore, where admiring sea turtles, epic waves and sunsets that turn the sky orange and purple are must-sees for many Hawaii tourists.
After the islands required a two-week quarantine for travelers amid the coronavirus pandemic, Kruse was happy about the little things as tourist numbers fell dramatically. It took her 35 minutes to drive to Walmart instead of spending hours stuck in traffic while tourists stared at turtles on the beach.
But tourist-dependent Hawaii has now eased restrictions imposed in March, allowing visitors to present a negative COVID-19 test to avoid the quarantine.
“I can literally tell you the day they open,” Kruse said. She drove to Walmart on Oct. 15 when travel restrictions were eased, and “I was waiting for hours again.”
For seven months, locals had reclaimed places normally crowded with visitors. They could enjoy Waikiki’s famous beaches without the sunburnt tourists and stroll the sidewalks without hordes of visitors awed by clear blue water, white sand, and the other trappings of a tropical vacation.
Locals, many of whom depend on jobs in tourism, have long felt ambivalent about living in an island paradise that depends heavily on visitor spending, but many saw the result of a health crisis that threatened their livelihoods — the reclaiming of their favorite areas that had long been time were overrun by crowds.
Before the pandemic, up to 30,000 visitors came every day. That went back to several thousand after the quarantine mandate.
“The pandemic has given us all a moment to pause, several months, to reconsider everything,” State Senator J. Kalani English said. “What it proves to us is that the old tourism model, which attracts 11 million visitors a year, didn’t work and people were fed up with it.”
Some residents are concerned as cases rise in other parts of the US, but Hawaii officials say an “extremely small number” who are tested before travel are diagnosed after they arrive. 10,515 passengers arrived Monday, nearly 5,300 of whom said they were vacationing, the Hawaii Tourism Authority said.
For English, who represents the rural parts of Maui, fewer tourists allowed him to reconnect with Hamoa Beach, his “playground” as a kid near where his family has lived for generations.
“I haven’t been down there in a few years because to be honest it was just too crowded,” he said. During the pandemic, “I started going back there, like I did when I was very young, for my morning swim.”
Bryant de Venecia from Honolulu started standup paddling when the beaches were less crowded.
“I see there has been a silver lining to this pandemic that locals and especially Kanaka have been able to reclaim some of the spaces over the past few months… we can’t occupy or even use them because of tourism,” he said, using a word for native Hawaiians.
But as the communications organizer for a union of hotel workers, de Venecia has “spongy” feelings: Many members have lost paychecks and medical benefits because of a lack of tourists.
Only 300 out of about 9,000 unemployed members returned to their jobs as Hawaii welcomed travelers back, de Venecia said, leaving him wondering if tourism will be the lifeblood it once was.
A union member recently went back to work with hesitation. Aina Iglesias, a guest relations officer at a Waikiki hotel, said she’s grateful for additional income.
“But it felt really good to be without tourists for a while,” she said of days spent with her family on Waikiki’s less crowded beaches. “When there are tourists, it’s crowded, there’s traffic.”
Iglesias said she was nervous about staying safe at work and pointed to guests who have ignored health advice.
“Those who are in quarantine go out and they don’t care,” Iglesias said. “And they get mad at us.”
Even with the option of presenting a negative test, some travelers choose to quarantine for two weeks, whether in hotels, rental apartments or at home. Hawaii authorities have arrested some people for violating quarantine.
John Fielding, who has lived on Oahu for 35 years, said returning tourists will bring normality and economic stability. But he wants them to wear masks, keep their distance and follow other health orders.
“I think it’s about time we start bringing them back,” he said. “But they need to be educated. You must be aware of this. And they have to … have the respect when they come here.”
John Alderete, a virologist who lives on Kauai, said it’s not safe to allow tourists during a pandemic.
“So in my opinion it’s a fait accompli that we’re basically just bringing the virus here and we’re doing it knowingly and willingly,” he said.
A second post-arrival test is required for Big Island, optional for Maui and Kauai, and not required for Oahu, the most populous island.
Many attractions popular with tourists are open, including Pearl Harbor and Iolani Palace. But others are closed, including the Polynesian Cultural Center, Hanauma Bay, and Diamond Head State Monument.
For residents along Oahu’s western Waianae shore, there is less concern about the possibility of visitors making them sick than a long-standing feeling that tourists are valued over locals, State Assemblyman Cedric Asuega Gates said.
Seeing tourism return while many schoolchildren are still learning remotely feels like a “slap in the face,” Gates said.
Jamaica Osorio, an assistant professor of Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Politics at the University of Hawaii, has been vocal about her disdain for tourists.
“We are not your hosts,” she said in a widely shared tweet on Oct. 15. “Hawaii is still closed. Go home Haole,” she wrote, using a Hawaiian word for “foreigner.”
Nobody should take vacations during a pandemic, she said in an interview: “This is no time for travel and exploration.”
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