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quote:
You guys don't seem to understand. It is much better for Puna if the situation is laid out honestly. The worst thing that could happen to rental business in Puna, is a bunch of visitors coming back from vacations and saying they were unhappy, and that no one told them there could be vog, or smoke, or traffic, etc..
If business is dropping, it's not because of Tripadvisor. It's a small niche, even though it may seem big to you. Hysteria? -- look at mainland news stories. Those are reaching millions of people.
Kathy
I do have a vacation rental and my guests have been informed exactly what is going on with the flow and the air, roads etc. None have cancelled and I have waived the cancellation fees if they do. How do you know what rental properties owners are telling or not telling their guests? Maybe some are not being told but I honestly think the majority are being told. One thing for certain it is not for you to tell people what you assume may or may not happen in or by an area that you do not even live in.
The air quality south of the flow is sometimes even better then north of Flow. We have not had any bad air days where our home is located and it’s only a few miles from the flow.
I mayself read trip advisor when I am considering travel to a different area. So yes while you might think your posts are harmless they most certainly are not helping anyone including the guests who are considering staying in Lower puna.
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Besides crucifying KathyH, what other constructive things can we do to change the current perception of Pahoa and Puna?
I don't have a big dog in this fight, but for our part we've been encouraging our tiny piece of the Japanese market that NOW is a really good time to visit, experience and learn, as no one knows how long our beloved town (and that includes my subdivision) will be here. This in itself creates a sense of urgency that's very real. Japanese practitioners of hula are particularly interested in coming, especially if their experiences are AUTHENTIC and have cultural significance.
But we're just a 2-person show, our impact is tiny. The Puna area needs an extensive PR campaign to change the current perception. Reports of Pahoa's death might be premature, but they could also be a self-fulfilling prophecy. That's what I fear.
What also struck me is that many folks choosing not to come do so with good intentions: they don't want to bother us during our "crisis."
Wonder if we have any good PR pros on this forum? Can we recruit the County to help get the word out. How about Hawaii Visitor's Bureau? Hawaii Tourism Authority? The tour companies? Any constructive ideas from marketing/PR folks wiser than me?
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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I live on the south side of the flow and have advised friends and family to wait until after the first of the year to buy airline tickets to visit us. I am hoping by then we will have a better idea of how accessible our area will be.
I almost always read tripadvisor as part of my research when planning a vacation and carefully weigh the advice offered. I love my home and the Puna area but if I was planning a visit I would appreciate knowing what challenges I might face while visiting this area. Perhaps it would be wise for tourists to look into trip insurance when planning months ahead for a visit to our area. And yes, tourists need to know that Puna is not like what they see on Hawaii 5-0.
I do not own a rental or a business in the area, but have been doing my best support local merchants. I was puzzled by the tourists that jumped out of their car by Malama the other day, asked us to take a picture of them with the volcano's smoke in the background then drove back towards Hilo. I do not think they even realized they were not in the 'real' Pahoa. Perhaps the downtown association needs to be more proactive with signage or some other marketing tool.
It would be nice if someone on tripadvisor living closer to Pahoa was offering advice, but I am not willing to take time away from enjoying the delightful activities in the area to do so. It must be difficult to keep a travel forum up to date on the volcano situation as we in the area know can change every few minutes.
I am sincerely hoping that the power remains on, our emergency roads are passable, and our air quality remains safe. The truth if the matter is that none if us have the crystal ball to see into our future.
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There need to be "air quality monitoring stations" all around this island, and the data needs to be posted on a minute by minute basis. A prospective visitor could then just look at that and not need to rely an anacdotal TA sites. My guess is that the air is equally bad in Hilo on an average basis, but even that varies hugely. I live up the hill and it smells like a BBQ every other day. I have heard that coastal areas of HPP have less of a problem then I have, but I don't live down there, so don't know for sure. And yes, there should also be a huge PR campaign going on from the county to educate and attract visitors.
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quote:
Originally posted by punafish
constructive things can we do to change the current perception of Pahoa and Puna?
I don't have a big dog in this fight, but for our part we've been encouraging our tiny piece of the Japanese market that NOW is a really good time to visit, experience and learn, as no one knows how long our beloved town (and that includes my subdivision) will be here. This in itself creates a sense of urgency that's very real. Japanese practitioners of hula are particularly interested in coming, especially if their experiences are AUTHENTIC and have cultural significance.
But we're just a 2-person show, our impact is tiny.
I agree and have thought about this also but was sure if it would be something any would be interested in doing. I think a Luau whith dancers and performers of hula in the various cultures of the different nationalities that create the residents of the Hawaiian islands would be wonderful. It would create jobs plus bring in revenue for our area and at same time teach others about the various cultures. An AUTHENTIC luau would be wonderful! My husband and I we went to one Luau on Kauai back in 1994 and we still think of it to this day. We have gone to others but this one by far was the best we ever seen. It had dancers of every single culture and even had a story about Pele. WE LOVED IT!
If anyone thinks this is something they would like to do - I am willing to help in any way I can. Husband and myself are in sales and marketing and have in our means to reach over 200,000 people around the world.
Please IM me if you would like to discuss what options there may be to get this in the works should anyone want to do so.
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I'd like to see trip advisor go out of business. Their forums and reviews are laden with revengeful jealous postings from petty tyrants and other undesirables writing malicious posts right along side with the good ones. Their policy is that they do not edit or delete any reviews unless there is foul language or racism etc, just the obvious offenses. Scammers and other unscrupulous people know this and have taken much advantage. Obviously KathyH uses Puna as her personal scapegoat.
I've witnessed jealous rental owners gang up on the new competition, personally dealt with Russian scammers who if not paid extortion money write horrid reviews and they stayed up on trip advisor!!! The site is so unprofessional and completely unaccountable but most folk have no idea.
I'm quite pleased to see this revealed here.
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I think you can blame the county for a lot of the lost business. Do you think people will come from other parts of the island to puna when headlines read two people thrown in jail for going on county land to go see the lava. Maybe they should think what the heavy police and national guards present is doing. County should set up a lava view area
jrw
jrw
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Can we recruit the County to help get the word out.
They're already doing that -- the message isn't very positive, though.
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Would it really be so bad to reopen the main road? At this rate it could be another month before the lava gets there.
It was a good idea to close it at the time, the lava was approaching fast. Now the front hasn't moved for nearly 3 weeks.
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Yes totally agree what would be so hard to reopen the Village Road - all they have to do is move the road blocks. If needed again just move them back in place. Would be nice to keep Pahoa as normal for as long as possible. And yes it could take weeks if at all now to reach Village Road.
