June 9, 2010- Maui News

More than 2,000 acres of brush went up in smoke Tuesday, and the fire remained uncontained as of 9:45 p.m. The blaze left black swaths of charred slopes in the West Maui Mountains above Maalaea. 

The blaze forced officials to close Honoapiilani Highway from its intersection with Kuihelani Highway to Ukumehame from around noon to 6 p.m. The closure stranded thousands of visitors and residents, and about 100 people were evacuated from areas threatened by the fire or affected by thick smoke. 

The evacuations included a handful of Maalaea residents, shoppers and workers at the Harbor Shops at Maalaea, shoreline campers, a half-dozen employees at the Kaheawa wind farm and boat operators at Maalaea Harbor. 

HARD TO FIND IMPROVED KIHEI COMMERCIAL LOT

***MLS #342379***

-11000+ sf fully graded, level, and fenced with ornate stainless steel entry gate commercial lot

-Utilities to site include telephone, tv cable, underground 220 electricity and County water

-B-2 Zoning

Priced to sell at $498,000

Call Clint Hansen at (808)280-2764 for more information or for a showing.

Thursday, May 27, 2010 

Visitor spending in Hawaii increased a modest 0.5 percent year over year to $760.2 million in April, marking two straight months of growth, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. 

Visitors from the U.S. West, Hawaii’s biggest market, spent $296.8 million in April, a 5.6 percent increase from the year before. 

The biggest percentage increase in visitor spending came from Canadians, who spent 24.5 percent more in April, totaling $60.2 million. 

The slight boost in visitor spending came courtesy of a 1.1 percent increase in visitor arrivals by air — to 536,194. 

Hawaii saw a boost in visitors from the U.S. West and Canada, with increases of 5.8 percent and 2 percent, respectively. But visitor arrivals from both the U.S. East and Japan were down for the month, by 4.7 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively. 

The statistics measure spending by visitors who arrive by air and do not factor in spending from cruise ship passengers. 

Overall visitor arrivals by air and cruise ship (which brought in 15,865 visitors in April) increased by 1.9 percent to a total of 552,059 visitors year over year. 

Among the major Hawaiian islands, Maui continued to see the biggest increase in visitor arrivals, up 3 percent to 161,140 in April. It is the only island to see continuous growth in visitor arrivals since the start of the year. 

Maui also saw an 8.9 percent increase in visitor spending in April, which totaled $202.1 million. 

Year-over-year results from Hawaii’s top visitor markets for April: 

• 5.8 percent increase in arrivals by air (245,203 visitors) from the U.S. West; 

• 4.7 percent decline in arrivals by air (119,768 visitors) from the U.S. East; 

• 1.4 percent decline in arrivals (83,230 visitors) from Japan; 

• 2 percent increase in arrivals (33,259 visitors) from Canada. 

Read more: Visitors to Hawaii spend slightly more in April – Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

On Friday May 28, 2010 Bob Hansen was recognized as the TOP REALTOR on the island of Maui by Hawaii Business Magazine out of 1,350* active licenced real estate agents. 

He was further recognized as #15 out of 7,255* agents in the State of Hawaii (encompassing Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Big Island & Kauai.

The Hansen Ohana would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal clients, business associates, friends and family without whom none of this would be possible.

*This information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

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Advertiser Staff