Hawaii Tourism Not Starting Up Until Late Summer

Just booked a week at Aulani this Christmas- fingers majorly crossed! Not surprisingly there was wide availability on rooms and villas- with discounts

However flights from NY area are getting booked up already so maybe that’s a good sign for pent up demand
The demand is definitely there. The only question is if they'll let travelers in. I hope they will.
 
Just booked a week at Aulani this Christmas- fingers majorly crossed! Not surprisingly there was wide availability on rooms and villas- with discounts

However flights from NY area are getting booked up already so maybe that’s a good sign for pent up demand

We tenatively have flights booked. Did you book Aulani online or call, what discounts were available?
Thanks!
 
Bali Indonesia just recently announced that they are closed to travelers until end of the year. Unfortunately, I see Aulani heading the same way. I just hope they make that decision soon rather than string everyone along each month.
And the devastation from that decision will be long lasting. I know the area very, very well (and even had considered spending part of this late autumn/winter there again to avoid COVID) Plans were in place for resorts to open 1st September, which meant that the shop owners, Grab drivers, scooter rentals, restaurants etc which service the tourism industry had some hope of an income. Now that hope has faded even future.

Bali, like Hawaii, struggles with over tourism. It can take 5 hours to travel 30km because there is one road north/south, plugged with tourists sitting 3-4 in an SUV, surrounded by scooters which even cannot go much faster. I think that my record was once doing 2km in one hour. So this has meant a lot of discussion about the future of tourism in Bali, which has been overrun in recent years and is overdeveloped in the south (and the north is somewhat inaccessible unless one wants to commit the time) There is only one beach I use for that stereotypical sandy beach, and it is not accessible to all. Kuta for example is covered with litter, so that amazing sunset is really from what has become a trash heap.

During this time, many Balinese could return to their roots, go back to their families, and return to the simpler life of fishing, simple farming, etc. But the problem is that only supports a small number, and many of the workers are not Balinese themselves (not to mention the many, many young people from Bali who lost their jobs in places like the Maldives, and had to return home) And there are so many people working to support the tourism industry who are not from Bali, and have had to return to their homes, or are trying to 'ride it out' there but if they lose their job, they lose their visa.

Bali and Hawaii share many similarities, as you can see. However, at least for Bali, they had some domestic tourism. (Not much, as the prices are way out of reach for most) But both are facing a big economic crisis, and the 'return to the simple life' is simply not an option for most in either location.
 


We tenatively have flights booked. Did you book Aulani online or call, what discounts were available?
Thanks!

Booked via my agent at Dreams but you can get the same deals online. We are also thinking about Four Seasons on the big island, but for that week they have a 100 person waiting list already… Hoping to go somewhere at least!
 
Booked via my agent at Dreams but you can get the same deals online. We are also thinking about Four Seasons on the big island, but for that week they have a 100 person waiting list already… Hoping to go somewhere at least!
I'm thinking there is going to be a lot of pent of desire, b/c as we've begun planning for a July 2021 trip, we're finding that some places are already booked up. For those considering HI travel next summer, I would book now, but obvi only things that are refundable.
 


I logged in to check my bookings for September to find my Jet Blue flight from PDX to LGB was canceled. I never even got any notification! I'm waiting until Thursday to see about rebooking. I figure I have 24 hours to cancel and I am worried if they announce an opening of the park ticket prices will shoot up.
Then again I hate the idea of booking yet another flight that will likely be cancelled. So torn!

When they announced the opening that never happened, how much lead time was there?



Edit: OMG I meant to post this in the DL re-opening thread :coffee:.(yeah, glutton for punishment. I have pending Disneyland AND Aulani trips I am sweating over cancelling in the next 2 months!)
You and me both. I feel your stress. Plus, I was meant to travel from Germany on rented DVC points for both resorts 😔. None of that is obviously happening.
 

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