Some visitors who arrived on Maui last week had postponed their original travel plans to show respect after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire, while others like Linda and Demerick Harris of Jackson, Miss., were unaware that West Maui had been the site of the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history in over a century.

All were welcomed by a visitor industry that continues to struggle two years after the fire tore through Lahaina, killing at least 102 people and destroying thousands of properties. Lahaina continues to rebuild, but employers and employees have had to adjust to a diminished economy, and the Lahaina Small Boat Harbor — once the hub of Maui’s ocean tourism industry — remains months, if not years, away from reopening.

The Harris family, including daughter Alex, 22, and her boyfriend, I.J. B

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