LANAI CITY >> With car payments and a 2-year-old son, Robert and Madelyn Rendon hope they'll be able to return to work quickly at the Manele Bay Hotel. They were among the employees laid off last week because of a decrease in visitors. STRUGGLING ON LANAI
No work,
no play, no fun
Tourism takes a beating on Lanai,
and so do many of its familiesBy Gary T. Kubota
gkubota@starbulletin.comBut as to when that might happen, Robert Rendon said, "I don't know. I'm not so sure. Right now, it's kind of slow."
On an island that relies upon two luxury hotels to drive its economy, many residents are coping with reduced work hours or losing their jobs and the uncertainty of slumping tourism in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast.
Both the 104-room Lodge at Koele and the 250-room Manele Bay Hotel are continuing to operate, as is the golf course at Manele.
Castle & Cooke spokeswoman Sheila Donnelly-Theroux said the change is temporary and has been designed so there is no effect on visitors.
"It's as good as ever," she said.
Donnelly-Theroux said that for the first time the hotels have been aggressively offering "kamaaina specials," including room rates starting at $179, a daily dining credit of $25 for each booking, and $75 per round of golf at the Challenge at Manele.
About 400 of 1,100 Castle & Cooke Resorts' Lanai workers have been affected, including full-time and part-time employees who have been laid off, taken vacations, or experienced reduced hours. Lanai has a population of 3,100.
"Even the managers are losing their jobs," said Joshua Hawkins, a former Manele golf club employee. "It's been really depressing. Everyone's down."Hawkins, whose pregnant girlfriend was laid off last week from her job as a waitress, said several people have decided to leave the island to look for work in Las Vegas and Washington state.
He said many families have been pooling resources, including his girlfriend, who has been helping to feed some of her relatives' children. But he said with her layoff, they're living on the edge.
Dottie Ayonayon, who works in food preparation for Trilogy Excursions, said many other people who left Lanai for better job opportunities returned to the island in the 1990s to work in the hotel industry and they're inclined to stay.
"They're just going to wait until things pick up," she said.
Stores and restaurants on Lanai are also feeling the pinch. Joseph Abilay, owner of the Blue Ginger Restaurant, said business hasn't been this slow since the Gulf War in 1991 and he's had to lay off workers and cut the hours of some of his employees.
Phoenix Dupree, co-owner of Gifts of Aloha, said his local business traffic is down about 25 percent and visitor traffic is down about one-third to one-half.
Dupree said he and his wife, Kimberly, have been refocusing their store so that the items they sell appeal to residents. He said he's optimistic about tourism returning to earlier levels.
"I expect they are going to rebound in a month or two," he said.
A number of people visiting Lanai had made plans to visit Hawaii before the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in New York and weren't about to change their plans.
David and Andrea McKeown of Missouri said that while the airline they flew on was about half full, many of those on the flight were honeymooners like themselves.
"The stewardess asked, 'How many of you are honeymooners?' and at least 30 couples raised their hands," said David McKeown.
McKeown, who took a day trip on the Lahaina-Lanai ferry with his new wife, said he thought it was a good time to travel because there were fewer people on the island.
Honeymooners Reese and Zazu Peacock said the trip from the East Coast took 10 hours and they were enjoying their stay.
"We're from New York so we were ready to get out," Zazu Peacock said.
Esther Phillips said she and her husband, Clyde, were celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary at the Manele Bay Hotel and weren't daunted by the events of Sept. 11.
"Whatever will happen will happen," Phillips said. "This hotel is magnificent, and let me tell you, I've been to many hotels."
Rendon said his father, mother and their seven children came to Lanai in 1989 when the island's main industry was pineapple cultivation.
He said he's worked at several jobs in the tourism industry on Lanai since the hotels were opened in the early 1990s and he loves living on the island because of its rural, family atmosphere.
"It's paradise island," he said. "This is the place I want to be."
