Maui wildfire: Lahaina residents feeling outraged as tourists enjoy holiday amid rising death toll

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Reuters, authorities and businesses have welcomed the trickle of travelers, saying it will lessen the blow to the island's economy, which relies heavily on tourism. The tourism industry is Maui's “economic engine", generating 80% of its wealth, said the report citing the island's economic development board.

Last weekend at a press conference,Josh Green, Hawaii governor had recalled that the Covid-19 pandemic similarly forced the state to weigh the risks of allowing tourists in during a public health crisis against the harm Hawaii's economy would suffer from barring them. “All of our people will need to survive, and we can't afford to have no jobs or no future for our children," Green had said.

“When you restrict any travel to a region, you really devastate its own local residents in many ways more than anyone else." Tourism has been badly affected in the week since the wildfire devastated Lahaina. The number of airline passengers to Maui on Sunday fell nearly 81% as compared to the same time last year, said the report citing the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

According to the report, in 2022, 2.9 million tourists visited Maui, which has a year-round population of 165,000. The state tourism department reported in February that visitors spent $5.69 billion on Maui in 2022.