Hawaii extends tourist quarantine until October
Hawaii’s scheduled start date of September 1, which allows visitors from other states to bypass a 14-day quarantine, has been postponed to October.
USA TODAY
HONOLULU – The Hawaii Tourism Authority says visitor arrivals to the islands in July were down nearly 98% from the same month last year.
A report released Thursday said 22,562 visitors arrived by plane last month, compared with 995,210 travelers who arrived in Hawaii in July 2019.
Most of the visitors came from the US mainland last month and only about 2,100 came from international locations.
In the first seven months of the year, arrivals plummeted by almost 65%.
All incoming visitors are subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine, a measure that seemed to keep the coronavirus in check in Hawaii for months.
But now, after the local economy reopened and restrictions eased earlier this summer, Hawaii is seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases, leading to another round of stay-at-home orders and shop closings.
The restrictions, coupled with fewer vacationers in general amid the pandemic, have decimated the state’s tourism economy.
Air traffic to the state decreased by about 87% in July. There are no cruise ships.
Hawaii Governor David Ige announced last week that the state would not reopen to tourism until October at the earliest, imposing a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers outside of the state and between the islands (in Kauai, Hawaii, Maui and ) means Kalawao Counties) remains intact. In the meantime, however, details of a “resort bubble concept” for travelers between the islands have become known.
The state calls the program an “extended movement quarantine” that each county can develop to give residents and visitors the opportunity to travel between the islands without a 14-day quarantine.
Officials had been considering an idea that would allow tourists to move freely around resorts while their movements were tracked via a portable monitor to ensure they stay within the confines of the facilities.
The concept of the “resort bubble” would keep tourists in a “geofence” that tracks their movements, West Hawaii Today reported.
Featuring: Dawn Gilbertson and David Oliver, USA TODAY
Sigh: Forget a Hawaii vacation until at least October as the COVID-19 spike is delaying tourism reopening
One way to travel to Hawaii? The government introduces the concept of the “resort bubble” to hop between the islands
