For our second episode, we’re going to discuss the beautiful island of Hawaii. More specifically, the history of tourism in this destination paradise—and the 1992 hurricane that threatened to tear it all apart.
Hawaii’s appeal to travelers is obvious. The island offers beautiful beaches, fantastic cuisine, and plenty of hikes to explore. Even today, the island feels isolated. A flight from the West Coast takes six hours! But that’s nothing compared to how people used to travel to Hawaii.
Here’s some quick tourism facts:
- There were no nonstop flights to Hawaii until 1927
- Most people opted to travel to Hawaii by sea (and this could take at least four days)
- Because travel took several days, most people planned long stays
- In the 1920s, Hawaii saw between 8,000 and 12,000 visitors per year
- By 2018, the Honolulu Airport recorded 18,000 visitors per day.
Fascinating stuff! Now that you know a little bit about tourism history in Hawaii, let’s dive into what happened when Hurricane Iniki hit in 1992…
Listen to our episode HERE (or on any of your preferred podcast platforms)
Yesterday in Travel 