Kwento Kwentuhan

Guidelines for Travel to Maui

Liza A Pierce of “A Maui Blog”

The year 2020 is an unforgettable year. This COVID-19 pandemic has affected and changed our way of life in so many different ways. Travel is one of those heavily affected.

In March 2020, the open door travel to Maui was closed. A fourteen day quarantine was required for everyone coming to Maui. This decision was made to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus on this beautiful island in the Pacific.

As a result of closure, Maui’s tourism industry tanked and resulted in an economic crisis on the island.

I am currently writing a Travel Book Guide called MAUI 2020 and BEYOND to assist new visitors in planning their vacation on Maui in the year 2020 and beyond. Photo courtesy Liza Pierce

There were several attempts (date set) to re-open Maui (August 1st and September 1st and October 1st) but due to various case surges, the planned openings were delayed.

As of this writing, the date of opening is October 15 and I am optimistic this time it is really going to happen. By the time you are reading this October 15th issue, the Hawai‘i Pre-travel Plan is most likely already happening.

Do you have family and friends who want to visit Maui at this time? Photo: Liza Pierce

Do you have family and friends who want to visit Maui at this time? We Filipinos love to visit family and friends. We are known for our hospitality. With the holidays just around the corner, having this Pre-travel Plan available for our family and friends to avail when they visit us on Maui, is helpful.

As much as I am enjoying less traffic and almost-empty beaches, I am also looking forward to Maui’s opening because it will surely help revitalize our broken economy at this time.

For those of you who are not familiar with what a Pre-Travel Plan is, it is a pre-travel testing program that will allow Trans-Pacific visitors to be exempt from the 14-day quarantine by providing a negative COVID-19 test result within 72-hours of travel.

Here are some details shared in bullet points by Go Visit Hawai‘i from the recent press conference by Lt. Gov. Josh Green:
• Starts Thursday, October 15, 2020.
• For inbound passengers from the U.S. Mainland only at the start. International passengers will be addressed later.
• Tests must be FDA Authorized Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) from a certified CLIA Lab. No antibody or antigen tests will be accepted at this time.
• The test can be taken no earlier than 72 hours before the departure of the last leg of the traveler’s flight itinerary. Hawai‘i will be accommodating to travelers with air travel delays that are out of the traveler’s control.
• Children ages four and under will not be required to be tested. Therefore, children ages five and older must be tested.
• The test result must be negative to be exempt from the 14-day quarantine. (If the test result is positive, the person should not travel. Green noted the person should defer their travel, reschedule or get a refund. He also noted the airlines have been generous in these circumstances when people are sick.)

Check www.hawaiicovid19.com/travel for more details.

I surely hope this Maui Reopening on October 15, 2020 ushers Maui into economic recovery. Let us all hope and pray. In the meantime, let us continue to support local businesses as they go through this transition in the so called Maui’s new normal. A hui hou!

P.S. I am currently writing a Travel Book Guide called MAUI 2020 and BEYOND to assist new visitors in planning their vacation on Maui in the year 2020 and beyond. You can now pre-order the book here: https://publishizer.com/maui-2020-and-beyond/

Liza Pierce of A Maui Blog is an Interactive Media Strategist in Hawai‘i. She started blogging in 2006 and she loves talking story online and spreading aloha around the world. She’s lived on Maui since 1994 and considers Maui her home. A wife, a mother, a friend…and so much more. She loves Jesus; Maui Sunsets Catcher; Crazy About Rainbow; End Alzheimer’s Advocate. Her life is full and exciting here on the island of Maui. Liza is currently the Interactive Media Strategist with Wailea Realty Corp.