The departure of go! airlines could hurt neighbor island tourism and lead to higher interisland fares, but the impact will be muted due to the small size of go!

"(Go! was) flying a pretty minimal schedule," said David Uchi­yama, vice president of brand management for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "There will be an impact, but not as great as if they were flying six aircraft like they were before. They were down to two aircrafts."

Uchiyama said the only surprise about Monday’s announcement that go! will cease operations April 1 was that it took so long to come.

"I had anticipated after summer 2013 that we’d get notification," he said.

Still, neighbor island tourism companies, who are heavily dependent on interisland access to grow their business, say they are concerned that the cessation of go! could cause a drop in arrivals. Others say reduced competition could make airfares less attractive to travelers and force package tour operators and travel agents to raise rates. Neighbor island attractions, which have worked hard in recent years to get advance bookings, also could suffer if customers cancel interisland trips because they cannot get seats or re-booking prices are too high.

"We’re sad to see this airline go and are disappointed that there aren’t any alternatives like a Super Ferry or an active boat service," said Bill Zabol­ski, who has owned and operated Captain Zodiac on the Kona Coast for the past 20 years. "Airlift is extremely important to the neighbor islands. I’m hoping that another carrier will take their place."

Zabolski said his business and others took varying hits following the 2008 shutdown of Aloha Airlines and ATA, and the market didn’t really get back to normal until other carriers filled the void.

Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kauai Visitors Bureau, said luckily go! provided consumers and travel agents with advance notice of its cessation.

"We’ve had this happen with less than 24 hours in the past," Kanoho said.

Given the reduction in service, Uchi­yama said that go! airlines’ flights can be absorbed among Hawaiian, Moku­lele and Island Air, which has made recent infrastructure investments.

"The timing might not be right for Island Air, but we can tell that something more is coming," he said. Island Air will end its service to Molo­kai on April 1, and the company said it will use the aircraft elsewhere.

Uchiyama said while consumers can expect higher pricing in the wake of reduced competition, he is hopeful that market demand will inspire expansion of existing interisland carriers or attract new ones to Hawaii.

"There are other carriers that are looking to expand and may have an interest here because their parent company is operating here," he said.

Kelly Sanders, area managing director of Starwood Wai­kiki, said attracting additional interisland lift is crucial to sustaining neighbor island businesses as well as serving the needs of a growing pool of customers who want to experience multiple islands per trip.

"At least 30 percent of our customers visit multiple islands, so this is very concerning," San­ders said.

While Oahu is the main stopover island for travelers, San­ders said more are planning trips to Kauai, Hawaii island, Maui or Lanai.

"This is a positive trend for Hawaii since Oahu sometimes has limited capacity and neighbor island occupancies don’t run as high," he said.