The Recovery Process – Caribbean tourism, island by island
by Stephanie Rosenbloom on 20 Oct 2017
With more ships heading to Antigua after the storms, the island could see a record-breaking year for cruise tourism Robert Rausch / New York Times
SO Dominica, Barbuda, St. Martin, The BVI, USVI and Puerto Rico were devastated but how are these islands and the area in general now? It looks like it could be a big season in the Caribbean, and whilst the article below deals with travel per se, it certainly has notes for cruisers too.
After an unforgiving start to the hurricane season, some idyllic Caribbean destinations are in the midst of a slow and arduous recovery that may take months, even years, while others are ready — or nearly ready — for the all-important holiday travel season.
In September, two of the most powerful Atlantic basin storms ever recorded left places — among them, Dominica, Puerto Rico, Barbuda, St. Martin and the U.S. Virgin Islands — in ruins. Homes and infrastructure were destroyed, leaving people without power, clean water and essential services.
Tourism is the most important economic driver for the region, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, but in certain places ongoing relief efforts amid power outages and medical crises continue to be the priority.
At the same time, a number of destinations, including the Florida Keys and the Turks and Caicos islands, are open again after clean-up and repair efforts. Places like Antigua are even poised to see an uptick in tourism as they welcome visitors who may have been planning to go elsewhere in the Caribbean. Other getaways, like St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Sint Eustatius and Martinique, emerged from the storms mostly unscathed and have been welcoming visitors.
The landscape continues to change day by day. Cruise lines have revised itineraries. Royal Caribbean International, for instance, has updates involving St. Maarten, St. Thomas and San Juan on its website. A number of hotels are still closed, with some upscale resorts, in places like Anguilla and St. Barthélemy, not planning to open until next year. Others have re-opened (some only for relief workers), or are planning to open, in the coming weeks and months.
Read full article
here.
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sailworldcruising.com/158140