Hawaii’s visitor industry making plans to mitigate coronavirus risks

The number of visitors to Hawaii increased in January, but the new coronavirus caused a drop in arrivals from the Asia-Pacific, most notably from China and Korea.

The downturn from the Asia-Pacific markets was not unexpected given rising global concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, which has left Hawaii’s visitor industry bracing for even greater impacts and putting plans in place should fears become reality.

The increase in overall visitor arrival numbers and a non-inflation-adjusted spending increase of about 5% in January were good for businesses catering to Hawaii’s core U.S. West, U.S. East and Japan markets. However, visitor arrivals from China, the country that’s been hit the hardest by the coronavirus, were down by 20%. Visitor arrivals from Korea, which currently has the most cases of coronavirus outside of China, fell 23%. Visitor arrivals from Australia fell 2%. Cruise visitors, which include arrivals by cruise ships and by air to board cruise ships, also decreased.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who is running for president, called Wednesday for Hawaii to temporarily suspend flights from Japan and Korea, as it already has from China.

“It is irresponsible for our leaders to endanger the health and well-being of Hawaii’s people by continuing to allow travel from Japan and South Korea,” Gabbard said. “I know there will be economic hardship, but it will pale in comparison to the cost in lives and economic damage to Hawaii and our country if we don’t suspend travel from these countries.”

So far, Gabbard’s recommendation hasn’t been supported by Hawaii’s visitor industry, which is already starting to see visitation from Japan — its top international market — wobble as the coronavirus spreads there and the government implements stringent containment measures.

Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO Chris Tatum said the agency has suspended its marketing campaigns and promotions for China and, to a certain extent, South Korea. But Tatum said HTA has stepped up communication with Hawaii’s visitor industry to address the coronavirus, which is the “No. 1 thing on everyone’s mind.”

“Our role with HTA is to communicate with the industry and our global marketing partners and contractors about what’s going on and make sure they have all the facts,” said Tatum.

He said one of the top industry recommendations is to double down on hand sanitizer in public and employee areas. HTA also is working with the state Department of Transportation to get hand sanitizer all over the state’s airports, too.

“We just returned from Japan and hand sanitizer is everywhere. As a visitor it made me feel good,” Tatum said.

Some members of Hawaii’s visitor industry have called on Peter Tarlow, world-renowned tourism security expert and president of Texas-based Tourism &More Inc., to advise them on mitigating coronavirus risk. At a minimum, Tarlow recommends letting more fresh air into venues, taking steps to reduce crowding and encouraging visitors and workers to wash hands regularly.

“The first stage of this is to take precautions as if you were going to take precautions against the common cold,” he said. “If we just follow basic precautions, we can get this under control.”

Tarlow suggests stepping up the use of alcohol-based cleaning products and cleaning schedules, with careful attention paid to places that are highly trafficked or crowded or have more touch points, like gyms. If an area is contaminated, Tarlow recommends using bleach with at least 6% sodium hypochlorite mixed with water to clean it up.

He also advocates assigning the most gregarious extroverts on staff to use friendly interaction to glean more information from guests from infected areas or those who show signs of illness. Venues should ensure guests and workers have adequate access to medical assistance should the need arise, Tarlow said.

“We want open borders and want to allow people to travel. On the other hand, we have to protect other tourists and people working in the industry,” he said.

Sara Nelson, national president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union, said there haven’t been any flight attendants within the union who have been diagnosed with coronavirus, but some have worked flights that carried infected passengers.

“They’ve been put into a self-quarantine, and they’ve been pay-protected for those trips,” Nelson said.

Nelson said she was pleased that “as of this week Hawaiian is responding to this much in the same way that, say, United or American is responding. I’m pleased with the airlines’ response as opposed to the government’s response; (the airlines) get a much higher ranking.”

She said Hawaiian is no longer resistant to flight attendants wearing masks or gloves or assessing their own risk and taking steps to mitigate it.

“If someone has a medical condition and they are concerned about being exposed or they have concerns about their families, they can say that they prefer not to work the trip and not face discipline,” she said.