County residential population - 111,000.Publisher Suzanne Hills says they came from county sources. Leroy Laney, economist for First Hawaiian Bank, says they could be low.County population with average daily visitors present - 159,000.
In other words, there may be two visitors present in Maui County on an average day for every three residents. The statewide average is much lower - more like one for six.
But Maui may be the wave of the future. Travel is the world's biggest and fastest-growing industry. The Asia/Pacific region has the fastest growth of all. Here lie the jobs needed to feed our new mouths and to replace jobs lost in sugar and pineapple.
Maui is about to face a decision on whether it will, as Kona already has done, increase its tourism attractiveness by lengthening its airport runway to accommodate direct flights from Japan and other faraway places. That makes travel less trouble for the visitor. It also relieves pressure on Honolulu International.
State and neighbor island leaders are becoming more receptive to more visitors as they see other income sources dwindling. Truth is, visitors and local residents can accommodate each other very well if there is concern and careful planning on both sides.
Example: Visitors may be bused to picnic at parks on weekdays, but the buses stay away on weekends when the locals turn out.
Michael Paulin, chairman of Marc Resorts Hawaii and immediate past chairman of the Pacific Area Travel Association, sketched some of the tourism trends at a recent Plaza Club breakfast meeting with the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council.
World travel may double in the next few years, but Hawaii has the disadvantage of being the world's most remote land mass, a long flight from anywhere.
New countries are sending out travelers. Some 180 million people in India's middle class are picking up on travel. So are Chinese. Young Thais are very much on the move. Ditto Koreans. There is increasing North-South travel in Asia.
It is conceivable that at some future date California and Japan could lose their top rank as sources of travelers to Hawaii.
The nature of travelers varies greatly with their country of origin. It will take targeted campaigns to attract them. Our sun, surf, sand and scenery can be matched elsewhere. New competition is developing.
We will need a special identity to attract people here. The Hawaiian culture may be it. Tourists increasingly are looking for education and knowledge along with their pleasure.
PAULIN said tourism is recognizing its need to be sensitive to local considerations by placing more locally born people and long-term residents in top jobs.
He didn't say it but I will: Service is not servitude. A few years ago the idea that it is was bandied about to the point of turning off many young people from seeking hotel jobs. Travel jobs can pay quite well. They also offer the psychic rewards that come from making other people happy. There can be good two-way interaction here.
I'm told local hotels that stress the Hawaiian culture and train their staffs in it have a higher percentage of returning guests and lower work force turnover. Great, because our future may lie in this direction.