September 18, 2008 | 07:51 PM

CNN.com had an interesting article about Halloween morphing into its own season at http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/09/17/halloween.season.ap/index.html. Within the tourism industry it's become a month long event. Both the Disney parks start in early September. The Illinois Bureau of Tourism has trademarked "Fall-O-Ween" to describe the state's distinctive fifth season. Salem, Massachusetts has a month long event that's responsible for thirty percent of their annual revenue. Many more examples were given.

With so many businesses, cities and states involved in Halloween events you really have to ask why Lahaina was forced into scaling back or eliminating programs for just one day. With the current economic climate and the very real downturn in business, we should be looking at every opportunity to promote West Maui.

Mike