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It’s possible that Hawaii’s visitor industry could achieve its seventh record-setting year in a row in 2018, provided that the state doesn’t fall victim to a natural or man-made disaster like a nuclear attack. Read more

It’s possible that Hawaii’s visitor industry could achieve its seventh record-setting year in a row in 2018, provided that the state doesn’t fall victim to a natural or man-made disaster like a nuclear attack.

Tourism hasn’t fallen as some initially feared when the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sent out a false ballistic missile alert Jan. 13 and then took 38 minutes to retract it, plunging some visitors and residents into needless panic and fear. Instead, February became the first month since November 2012 to see a double-digit rise in spending and arrivals.

But the unfortunate exercise did highlight how woefully unprepared Hawaii’s visitor industry is to deal with a major catastrophic event, especially a nuclear attack and the challenges that the state’s isolation would pose for recovery. The morning of the false missile alert, some visitor industry personnel grabbed nuclear attack plans and began issuing directives that were developed last fall when Hawaii became the only state to launch siren drills in response to increasing threats from North Korea. But others scrambled — some uncertain after initially dismissing the alert, others caught largely unprepared with no plan. In the meantime, news outlets all over the world carried stories of terrified tourists who were driving off the road, running for their lives, hiding under mattresses or in bathtubs, or shoving their children down manholes.

The Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association and Hawaii Hotel Visitor Industry Security Association hosted an emergency management workshop Thursday to help Hawaii’s visitor industry better prepare for its next potential threat. There’s a lot at stake. Last year some 9.4 million visitors came to Hawaii and spent $16.8 billion, generating 204,000 jobs and $2 billion in taxes.

HLTA President and CEO Mufi Hannemann said he was heartened to see 130 members of Hawaii’s visitor industry, mostly general managers and security heads, attend the standing-room-only event, which will be repeated on Oahu and other islands.

“We are going to advise, encourage, cajole and work with HHVISA to ensure that all of our properties have an updated emergency plan. I think we are generally good at dealing with hurricanes, tsunamis and storms, but a nuclear threat is new,” Hannemann said.

Hannemann said HLTA and HHVISA also are pushing the industry to work with the Hawaii Tourism Authority to compile a daily situational online report with input from county visitor bureaus that would be linked to Hawaii Emergency Management Agency’s website. Information could include everything from damage reports and hotel vacancies to airline operations and available visitor industry resources.

‘Room for improvement’

Hannemann said HLTA and HHVISA also support empowering city and county Emergency Management Agency personnel to retract false alerts without an all-clear from the state. The agencies also want members to encourage lawmakers to beef up local and state emergency preparedness resources.

“There’s plenty of room for improvement,” said Bulla Eastman, senior director of security for Aston Aqua Hospitality. “The good news is most visitor industry businesses are becoming more proactive.”

While the chances of a nuclear attack on Hawaii are slim, HHVISA President Jerry Dolak said improving preparedness could dramatically affect survival rates if the unthinkable happened.

“You can survive a nuclear attack, especially if you are talking about a missile attack from North Korea, which would be less powerful than one from the U.S. or Russia,” Dolak said. “But you need to be able to react right away.”

Dolak encourages people to keep emergency kits on hand with food, water, radio equipment, power sources and important paperwork such as home deeds and insurance. Identifying the right shelter, ideally a middle floor in a multistory brick or concrete building, also is important, he said.

“In the case of a nuclear attack, the more barriers between you and fallout particles, the better,” Dolak said. “Don’t get in your car; it’s like being in a toaster.”

On any given day there are 240,000 tourists statewide, with some 100,000 on Oahu. In the event of a major catastrophe, Dolak said some of them might have to be housed for extended periods in an environment where communications might be difficult, transportation infrastructure might be down and there is not enough water, power or food to last the critical 14- to 30-day initial recovery period.

Hawaii’s visitor industry typically has only about a week’s worth of food stockpiled, Dolak said. That’s worrisome considering Hawaii is eight sailing days away from supplies, compared with Puerto Rico, which has had severe challenges following Hurricanes Maria and Irma despite being only eight sailing hours away from supplies, he said.

“When a hurricane or a tsunami are expected, we advise guests to supplement with some of their own food and supplies. Hopefully, they won’t be here the entire 30 days. Part of the plan is to locate guests to another island that hasn’t been affected,” Dolak said.

In the case of a nuclear attack, Dolak said hotels typically wouldn’t have enough time to help guests preplan preparedness. However, Dolak said radioactive fallout poses the greatest threat to people during the first two weeks, by which time it has declined to about 1 percent of its initial radiation level.