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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, March 16, 2006

Visitors continue arriving on Kaua'i

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writer

News of Tuesday's devastating flood from the breaching of the Kaloko Reservoir dam on Kaua'i prompted many calls and e-mails from visitors who had planned trips to the island, but it doesn't appear there was a surge in cancellations.

"I know everybody's been fielding questions, but as far as I know, there have been no cancellations," said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert. "And traffic is moving freely now, and we're loving it."

Floodwaters surged over Kuhio Highway at about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, closing the road and cutting off Kaua'i's North Shore from the rest of the island, including the main airport. The road was re-opened to one-way traffic at 4:20 p.m. yesterday.

At least a couple of North Shore resorts — including the largest, Princeville Resort — reported cancellations in the next couple of days but none next week.

Hanalei Colony Resort general manager Laura Beemer said people have canceled reservations for today and tomorrow.

"So far, people are checking in, but no one has canceled (for next week)," she said, adding that she has received "quite a few" e-mails from people asking if they should still come.

"I told them to stay in touch with me, that I would continue to give them an update, but as long as the road is open, they should come and enjoy and probably be prepared that traffic will be very slow," Beemer said. "And that they just need to be prepared that the whole island will be very slow, and that we will have some limited resources for a period of time."

The 52-condominium Hanalei Colony Resort had about 50 guests who were supposed to leave yesterday and the day before but couldn't because of the Kuhio Highway closure.

"So at this time, we are housing them, and we've reduced their rates by 50 percent," Beemer said. "And we gave them a big mai-tai party last night, and we're feeding them all dinner tonight with mai-tais again.

"The good news is they're very relaxed so far. I have to say our guests have just been wonderful."

The Kaua'i Visitors Bureau, which has been acting as a clearinghouse for information, has been fielding calls from tourists on the island, as well as others wondering if they should keep their travel plans to Kaua'i.

"We're just giving them the facts and what the current situation is," said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the bureau. "And for those that are on-island, let them know what they can do when the weather is like this."

When asked if people are canceling their trips, Kanoho said: "We haven't heard much of anything. If they are, they haven't told us about it."

The Kaua'i Visitors Bureau worked with about 15 hotel properties to set aside more than 100 rooms Tuesday at "distress rates" for tourists who needed alternate accommodations because of the road closure, Kanoho said.

"That's been enough, so we're OK," she said. "And the vacation rentals and B&Bs have been good about handling their own rebookings. They've been pretty aggressive."

Lihu'e Airport ran public announcements every 20 minutes advising arriving passengers with reservations for North Shore accommodations to report to a booth to get information on alternative arrangements.

Heli USA Airways shuttled about 350 people between Princeville and Lihu'e Tuesday and yesterday at a standard charter rate that worked out to a total of about $1,200 per flight hour (each flight is about half an hour), said Kaua'i general manager Rich Johnson. Air Kaua'i also offered helicopter shuttle service at a cost of about $200 per person yesterday.

Kanoho said some hotels were short-staffed because the road closure prevented some employees from reporting to work.

"But I called them all yesterday, all the big properties, and they were doing extraordinarily well despite the challenges," Kanoho said. "I'm just really impressed with their ability to deal with the situation.

"I have to say the visitor industry has been just awesome in their support and I really am very grateful to them. We've had offers of boat tours and helicopter support and airplane support and rooms support. I'm very grateful to them for the aloha that they've extended to the visitors on Kaua'i."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.