- Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler encouraged tourists to keep vacationing in Maui at a concert on Saturday.
- "Everything's beautiful, except we gotta come there and make it more beautiful, OK?" Tyler said.
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler said tourists should keep visiting Maui, during the band's first The Farewell Tour concert in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Tyler, who purchased a $4.8 million Maui home in 2012, encouraged tourists to continue vacationing on the Hawaiian island and added that visiting Maui can help local tourism pick up again so the economy can recover.
"When you think about Lahaina, think about south Maui," Tyler said in a video of the concert posted on YouTube, adding that the resort towns of Paia and Hana, which were not affected by the wildfires, are ready to receive tourists.
"Everything's beautiful, except we gotta come there and make it more beautiful, OK?" Tyler continued.
Maui residents have had mixed reactions to tourists visiting the island. One family with a 10-generation history in Lahaina — the West Maui island that was hit hardest by the fires — put up a sign telling tourists to keep out of their neighborhood.
In August, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said tourists should avoid traveling to West Maui but are encouraged to keep visiting other parts of Maui and Hawaii.
"No one can travel to West Maui right now. We will share when that is possible again. Only returning residents and authorized emergency relief workers should come here now. But all of the other areas of Maui… and the rest of Hawai'i are safe," Green said in a press release.
"When you come, you will support our local economy and help speed the recovery of the people that are suffering right now," Green added.
—Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority (HTA) (@HawaiiHTA) August 17, 2023
Over 100 people were killed in the wildfires in Maui last month, and more than 300 were said to be missing. Some 6,000 Lahaina residents have been displaced, forcing them to stay in hotels and short-term rentals as reconstruction efforts could take several years, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Tyler's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular office hours.