Hawaii volcano eruption prompts fears of disastrous blow to tourism

[turbinetree]

David Collier, who has been guiding trips on the island for a decade, clutched the wheel of a 13-person van last week on the road up to Mauna Kea observatory. Up until Kilauea began erupting this month, his full-time job was taking visitors on three separate volcano-related tours. Now, with Hawaii Volcanoes national park closed and the district of Puna inundated with lava, two of those three tours are cancelled until further notice.

“As of this morning, the road where I’ve been conducting tours for a decade is no longer there,” he said. “Things are changing.”

Hawaii island’s $2.4bn tourism industry is struggling in the wake of the Kilauea Volcano eruptions, with bookings for May through July down 50%, according to the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau. Businesses on the island are doing their best to convince tourists that it’s still safe to visit.

If tourism falters much longer, Collier reasoned, there’s still plenty of work in the astronomy industry located on this 13,000-foot-high dormant volcano. Mauna Kea – the largest peak in the world when measured from its base on the seabed – is a mecca for astrologists, as well as tourists. But his feelings about the volcano are mixed: it’s eruptions like Kilauea’s that created the island in the first place.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/27/hawaii-volcano-eruption-prompts-fears-of-disastrous-blow-to-tourism

[procon]

1. I would think tourists would want to see the lava flows up close and personal.

A dormant volcano isn't near as exciting as seeing the molten lava and cracks in the road. Adventure tourism would attract thrill seekers, photo safaris, a catered nighttime dinner down at the river of fire... its an entrepreneurs dream.