How has the ongoing Kīlauea eruption hurt Hawaii's tourism industry?

By Ashley Williams, Out of fear from Kīlauea’s recent volcanic eruptions in Hawaii, a number of travelers are looking elsewhere to spend their summer vacations.

Reports of vog, laze, ash and other volcanic threats have led many, but not all, tourists to cancel planned travel to the Hawaiian Islands.

Lava flows have devoured more than 600 homes on Hawaii’s Big Island since early May 2018, according to Reuters.

In July, more than 20 people were hurt after a flying lava bomb punctured the roof of a lava tourism boat near Suisan Harbor in Hilo. Despite that incident, lava-viewing tours are still permitted to continue, as long as boats follow the United States Coast Guard requirement of maintaining about a 984-feet distance from active flows.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, lava from the Kilauea volcano's last remaining active fissure erupts in the Leilani Estates neighborhood on Saturday, July 14, 2018 near Pahoa, Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey via AP)

The decline in visitors at the height of tourism season has negatively impacted some local businesses, including tour operators and resorts.

The tourism industry is a major source of revenue for the Big Island and provided more than 30 percent of private sector jobs last year, according to the Hawaii Visitors Bureau via Reuters.

The eruptions have prompted closure of two-thirds of the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which helped pump more than $166 million into local communities in 2017, the National Park Service reported.

Some Hawaii-based hotels have reported drops in summer bookings of around 40 percent, while others have fielded calls from worried tourists about how the volcanic activity could affect their safety.

Even tour operators in areas located on islands a distance away from volcano have reported 30-percent losses for the start of tourist season, according to TIME Magazine.

Local business owners have pointed to misconceptions about Kīlauea and a lack of understanding of Hawaii’s geography as reasons for tourism impacts across the islands.

“Most people don’t have a sense of the island’s vastness and how small the eruption area really is,” said Pat Fitzgerald, president of the Kohala Coast Resort Association, a group of eight resorts located along 20 miles of the Big Island’s northwest shore.

“Our resorts are on the opposite coast from the volcano, almost 100 miles away from the lava flow,” Fitzgerald told AccuWeather. “We have some work to do to educate travelers that the island is fine, safe and welcoming guests every day.”

Despite the dramatic and startling footage out of Hawaii that showed spewing lava, ash plumes and newly opened fissures, Hawaii Gov. David Ige said in late May that travelers from across the globe can safely visit the Hawaiian Islands, adding that Kīlauea is under close monitoring.

“Visitors to Hawaii can be assured that the volcanic activity is having no effect whatsoever on the other islands, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kauai,” Ige stated in a press release. “Visitors can book their trips comfortable in the knowledge that their vacation experience will provide all the enjoyment they expect when coming to our beautiful islands.”

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Overall, Hawaii’s tourism industry appears to have fared well during the first half of 2018 in spite of some decline in tourist activity, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

“Hawaii’s peak summer travel season began with a strong month of June,” said Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO George Szigeti in a July press release.

“All of the islands recorded double-digit increases in visitor spending, except for the island of Hawaii, which was down by less than 1 percent,” Szigeti said.

The Big Island saw a nearly 20 percent drop in day trips during June, the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported.

“The community here has lived with the volcano our entire lives. It’s literally the foundation of the Big Island and has been erupting for 35 years straight, so to us, it’s one more chapter of our history,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s important for people to know that on 99 percent of our 4,000-square-mile island, life continues as usual and summer is in full swing.”AccuWeather staff writer

August 01, 2018, 11:29:40 AM EDT