The Big Island of Hawaii – Volcanic eruption & impact on tourism

Thursday, November 21, 2019

In May last year, all hell seemed to break loose on the Big Island of Hawaii when volcano Kilauea, an active fissure started erupting with unusual force. The internet went viral with full of images of the Kilauea’s molten lava snaking down the mountainside, masking the entire neighborhood area in liquid fire. Each cascade of lava gave sign of sinister tremors in the earth and chased by thick toxic sulfur dioxide clouds and gas. Locals and visitors alike flee from the area, anxious that highways and other routes would get obstructed by lava flow or mountains of ash.

The reality was only a little less sensational. On the entire planet, Kilauea is the most active volcano and has been in a near-constant state of eruption since 1983. All these years, locals have become used to its minor tremors, as well as clouds of “vog” (volcanic smog) traveling through the atmosphere. However, there’s no contradiction that this volcanic activity was strangely powerful, not to mention destructive. Geologists have categorized 2018’s eruption cycle among the worst volcanic events in a century. After four months of constant eruption, over 55 squares miles of the Big Island had been completely covered by lava flow. At least 700 houses were reported to have been destroyed, and costs for recovery efforts were estimated to be above $800 million.

As the environmental damage of the eruption was huge, it was nowhere near as bad as the harm to the tourism sector of the Big Island. Ross Birch of the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau told USA Today that “the effect of possible cancellations … is quite honestly a greater impact on our island economically than our lava flow.”

« Back to Page