“Now is not the time to visit the islands”

Hawaii Governor David Ige is urging tourists not to visit the popular destination until October due to an increase in COVID cases which has state hospitals at full capacity.

“Now is not the right time to travel to the islands,” he told a press conference on Monday.

Monday’s announcement doesn’t mean travelers can’t visit Hawaii because the state hasn’t tightened entry requirements. As of October, travelers can visit with a negative COVID test to bypass the state’s strict quarantine. In July, the testing requirement disappeared for vaccinated travelers.

There has been speculation that the testing requirement will return due to the spike in delta variant COVID cases, but Ige said it was difficult to do because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the domestic trips are safe for vaccinated travelers.

Ige said he has spoken to airlines, hotels and other travel companies to get the message across that now is not the time to visit Hawaii except for essential business. He said he asked them to “do what they can” to reduce tourism.

“I think it’s important that we reduce the number of visitors coming here to the islands,” he said Monday in a separate interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “Certainly, I expect the cooperation of the visitor industry.”

Asked about the governor’s request to limit the number of visitors, Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Alex Da Silva released a statement Monday evening.

“We are keenly aware of the stress placed on our health care system by the new cases of COVID-19, and our thoughts are with those affected,” he said. “We continue to believe that the most valuable measure in addressing this crisis is increasing the vaccination rate in our community, which is why we have announced our intention to require our employees to be vaccinated.”

Da Silva added, “The Safe Travels program, which is unprecedented in the country, requires travelers to be vaccinated or tested to avoid quarantine and has been effective in managing the number of travel-related cases.

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The Hawaii Tourism Authority, the state agency responsible for promoting tourism, said visitor numbers normally drop at the end of the summer vacation season, but has always encouraged travelers to delay any plans to visit Hawaii this fall.

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“Our community, residents and the tourism industry are responsible for working together to address this crisis,” John De Fries, president and CEO of the agency, said in a statement. As such, we strongly advise visitors that now is not the right time to travel, and they should postpone their trips until the end of October. ”

Ige acknowledged that some small tourism businesses are still struggling to recover from the pandemic and telling visitors to stay at home won’t help the tourism industry bounce back. Hawaii has effectively banned traditional vacations for months in 2020 by requiring a strict 14-day quarantine, causing visitor numbers to plummet, but visits have returned this summer.

Ige told the press conference that now was not a good time to visit Hawaii anyway due to lingering travel issues this summer, including a lack of rental cars and hard-to-get restaurant reservations.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Governor of Hawaii Urges Tourists to Stay Home Due to COVID Outbreak