The news that Jack’s Tours, a longtime Hilo-based business, is closing down at the end of the month due to the downturn in tourism caused by the Kilauea eruption was disheartening for others in the visitor industry.

On its website, Jack’s Hawaii Inc. announced that its last day would be Tuesday.

“The downturn in tourism due to the volcanic activity on Hawaii island has affected our business significantly and, unfortunately, we are unable to continue operations due to the significant decrease in business levels with no foreseeable improvement in the near future. We are very grateful for your business and support, and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.”

Company officials did not return Star-Advertiser phone calls seeking comment.

Jack’s Hawaii Inc. lists Jeff Miyashiro as president, along with Carol and Corinne Miyashiro as directors, in business registration records.

Online, Jack’s offerings include a half-day volcano adventure for cruise ship guests arriving at the Hilo Pier, along with narrated tours in English and Japanese, custom tours and group tours for schools on its own fleet of transportation vehicles.

“Any time that a tourism- or visitor-related entity goes out of business or finds hardship, it’s hard for us to hear,” said Ross Birch, executive director of the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau.

But Birch said Jack’s Tours is not the first tourism-related business to go under due to the downturn.

The major impact has been the closure of the majority of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, he said, which some of these companies relied on as an attraction.

“Most of the tour companies have had the opportunity to diversify a little more or have changed their tour offerings in order to keep going,” said Birch.

At least 716 homes have been destroyed by the eruption, according to Hawaii County, now entering its 12th week. Fissure 8 on Friday afternoon continued to erupt lava into a perched channel, sending flows into the ocean at Ahalanui.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists have said the eruption, which is unprecedented in volume, could last for months or years.

Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park has been shuttered since May 11 after earthquakes fractured the overlook deck at Jaggar Museum and damaged buildings, trails, parking lots and Highway 11, which remains open to through traffic.

The Kahuku unit, about an hour’s drive south of the park’s main entrance, remains open, and unveiled a new, 2-mile hike — Pali o Ka‘eo — today. But the rest of the national park remains closed indefinitely.

“Every tour company that has been operating tours in the park, traditionally, is hurting right now, for sure,” said Jason Cohn, vice president of sales and marketing for Hawaii Forest &Trail. “For us it’s really about adapting, and luckily, we do have a wide variety of tour options.”

Hawaii Forest &Trail, in operation for about 25 years, offers bird-watching and waterfall tours and runs Kohala Zipline. The company recently launched a sunrise/sunset tour to Mauna Kea summit that has proved popular. A view of the glow from fissure 8 is often visible.

Still, the company has had to reduce its employees’ hours, and many full-time guides are working part-time hours.

Cohn said hearing of Jack’s Tours’ closure was a surprise, considering its longevity.

“It’s really sad to see a company after more than 50 years so suddenly go out of business,” he said. “There’s been a lot of things they’ve had to survive, so it’s very sobering to see a company of their stature go out of business. We really feel for their employees and everyone there.”

Cohn said he and many others in the industry would like the county to make a public viewing area of the lava a reality to help tour companies that are hurting.

“There just doesn’t seem to be a clear path toward that happening, so unfortunately, I don’t think this will be the last company that goes out of business,” he said.

Gwendolyn Hill, owner of Bike Volcano, echoed those sentiments.

She used to offer bike tours at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, but those have been suspended due to the closure. Her newest offering is a “Bike to Pele” experience, and she said a public viewing area would be a huge help.

“We all depend on tourism,” she said. “If a company of this size is going down, it’s definitely an indicator that we’re not getting the visitors we usually get or there aren’t enough out there spending, and that’s going to affect everyone.”

With the park having been the No. 1 attraction, she said state and county leaders have to take action and make the public viewing area a reality soon. She supports a recently launched choose.org petition demanding Mayor Harry Kim keep his promise of opening a lava viewing area.

“Jack’s Tours closing down is a sign that a huge economic disaster is about to take effect on the Big Island,” she said. “It’s scary, really scary for us.”