Mufi's Message, April 10th, 2020

COVID-19 Update

​Aloha,

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Caldwell and Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard announced a pilot program that will establish a night-time curfew for the Easter holiday weekend. Under the program, Honolulu residents must remain in their homes between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. from this evening through Monday night. While you may leave your home in the case of an emergency, going out to eat or to pick up food will not be allowed during the curfew.

The neighbor islands have also instituted new policies. Maui Mayor Mike Victorino has established curfew hours for the Easter weekend similar to O'ahu. Meanwhile on Kaua'i, Mayor Derek Kawakami amended the Mayor's Emergency Rule #5 to close all vacation rental operations and golf courses, and to require food service, grocery, and pharmacy employees to wear cloth masks beginning on Saturday, and Hawai'i Island Mayor Harry Kim has announced that all vacation rentals, bed and breakfasts and time shares must shut down and stop advertising beginning Monday.

In other news, Hotels for Heroes is wrapping up its first week. While there have certainly been challenges, the overall response has been wonderful. In addition to more and more people signing up to participate - over 650 reservations were made in four days, we have also had numerous people, organizations, and businesses offer their services to the program. Mahalo to Hawaiian Paradise Coffee, Domino's Pizza, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, each of whom contacted us this week with offers on how they could help support Hotels for Heroes.

I am also pleased to report that we were able to secure an additional 500 room nights thanks - thanks to HTA, which were provided to the Healthcare Association of Hawaii (HAH) to support Maui Memorial Medical Center. Moreover, we were notified by HAH today that an organization has returned unneeded rooms which we were able to make available to Kaiser Permanente, the only hospital that was not a participant in Hotels for Heroes from the outset because they missed the deadline.

In closing, my best wishes to you and your family as we head into the Easter weekend. I hope that you are able to spend a safe, relaxing weekend together.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or my staff if we can be of assistance in any way. Happy Easter!

Mahalo,
Mufi Hannemann
President & CEO
Hawai'i Lodging & Tourism Association

Links: 

This Week's Media Items
"'Hotels for Heroes' program kicks off today," The Garden Island, April 6, 2020
​"Hotels for Heroes kicks off across the state," KITV4, April 6, 2020
​"Hotels across the state offer free rooms to health care workers, first responders," Pacific Business News, April 7, 2020
​"New program helps visitors go back home if they can't quarantine for 14 days in Hawaii," KHON2, April 7, 2020

​HLTA Communications From This Week
Mufi's Message - April 3, 2020
COVID-19 Update - April 6, 2020
COVID-19 Update - April 7, 2020