THE STATE OF PLAY

A number of hotels have begun clean-up operations, while the Malliouhana and Quintessence Boutique Resorts both anticipated more extended recovery times. hotel rooms have been damaged, the long-term effect should be “minimal”.

“The Bahamas is getting back to business as airports are open in Nassau, Grand Bahama Island and on nearly all Out Islands,” said the CTO. “Parts of the southern islands were more heavily impacted.” However, the CTO said the “majority of hotels and resorts are operating as usual”. The British Overseas Territory received significant damage but many hotels say they can reopen shortly.

Thomas Cook is continuing to evacuate its customers from the island, the northern coast of which was hit badly by Irma. The operator said it was offering customers due to travel to Cayo Coco up to the end of October free cancellations or rebookings. It said the Cayos had received “considerable damage” and that it was reviewing the status of its hotels in Havana.

The CTO said all the hotels it had heard from were fully operational.

“All services remain in operation and we continue to welcome people,” said the CTO.

The same is true of Montserrat, which said it has emerged “unscathed”.

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company said that “nearly all hotels are operational and receiving guests”, including a number of Marriott properties that welcomed some 700 guests from nearby islands. The FrancoDutch island was hit hard by Irma and the relief effort is continuing. Nearly all resorts and hotels were damaged, some seriously, and vital aid is currently the focus of the authorities. Club Med, which has a resort on the island, said all guests had been flown home and that it will not be accepting new guests until October. While a number of resorts remain open, others, including Gansevoort, said they will close for a month to assess the damage. Ports and airports have reopened and the majority of hotels on St Croix are open again. St Thomas, however, suffered more damage. Nearly all resorts have said they will be closed until further notice.