MVCB and HTA recently released a grant opportunity known as the 2023 East Maui Tourism Management Pilot Program RFP making fiscal support available to community organizations in order to address tourism impacts occurring at five sites along the Hana Highway; these five sites are: Bamboo forest Kailua, Waikamoi bridge at MM10, Kaihalulu aka Red Sand Beach, Waioka referred to as Venus pools and South Wailua bridge known as Honolewa. This RFP is an outcome of Hana Highway Regulation advocacy.

There is a page titled Industry Engagement at HanaHighwayRegulation.com that outlines our communication exchange with visitor industry leaders since 2017. This highlights our repeated requests for the visitor industry to collaborate with community. This RFP is a result of our advocacy over the years.

Hana Highway Regulation in partnership with Lokahi Pacific as our committed fiscal administrator, applied for a portion of this MVCB / HTA grant funding opportunity to work with the kuleana holders of Kailua and Waikamoi to address impacts occurring on the North East end. Our plan is entitled The Hana Highway Information Project, a two fold proposal which aims to; 1. Create a standardized information platform to establish credible pre-arrival visitor education that nurtures visitor preparedness, and 2. Harnesses generational residents of Kailua and Waikamoi to be stationed in the field to render visitor consultation in order to improve road safety. 

In acknowledgment of the kuleana rendered by our organization over the last seven years, please follow this link to sign the petition of support for Hana Highway Regulation’s proposal that was submitted as a grant application with Maui Visitors & Convention Bureau on May 5th. Grant awards are announced on June 9th!