Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Caribbean tells tourists: ‘We’re open’
The economic outlook for tourism-reliant Caribbean islands working to rebound from Hurricanes Maria and Irma is looking brighter now that more cruise ships and airlines are returning and hotels reopening ahead of the peak 2017-18 winter travel season.
On Saturday, St. Croix, the largest of the three U.S. Virgin Islands, will welcome its first leisure cruise travelers back since Hurricane Maria struck nearly two months ago, tourism officials said this week.
They’ll arrive aboard the 2,340-passenger Norwegian Dawn, which has two other port calls scheduled this month.
“Cruise ship passengers contribute important economic activity to the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty said in a statement. “The combination of cruise traffic, the recovery and construction economy, and the current reopening of hotels to leisure guests on St. Croix are key components of our recovery.”
St. Croix is poised to welcome 13 cruise ship visits between Nov. 11 and Dec. 30, tourism officials said.
Sister island St. Thomas has more than 24 ship calls scheduled for November. On Friday, Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas ship made its first non-relief visit to St. Thomas since the hurricanes hit. Ships from the cruise lines Holland America, Seabourn and Princess have also resumed sailings there this month with others to follow in coming weeks.
The main airports in St. Croix and St. Thomas have been opened for several weeks to daily commercial flights.
Cruise lines are plotting returns to ports in Puerto Rico, Turks & Caicos and the French and Dutch Caribbean — which were also badly impacted by the massive storms. All of those destinations are in varying stages of recovery.
Miami-based Royal Caribbean will deploy its first regular cruise to San Juan on Nov. 30 with Freedom of the Seas bringing approximately 3,782 passengers. On Dec. 17, its Grandeur of the Seas ship will visit St. Maarten.
“Supporting these destinations that are so reliant on tourism is key to the future of the islands and the best thing we – as travelers and businesses – can do for the islands,” said Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean’s president and CEO.
Bayley commended the recovery efforts of the governments of Puerto Rico and St. Maarten to enable the resumption of cruises.
In San Juan, cruise passengers will be able to visit the fortresses of El Morro and San Cristobal and explore the streets of Old San Juan, Royal Caribbean said. Those sailing to Philipsburg in San Maarten will find the majority of area shops, restaurants and bars to be fully functioning.
Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas cruise ship is slated to visit St. Croix on Jan. 8. But it canceled port calls in Dominica through June because of the devastation.
Holland America, AIDA and Carnival also began visiting Grand Turk in Turks & Caicos this month, while more operators will return by year-end.
New air service is also landing in some destinations.
Southwest Airlines launched nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale and Providenciales in the Turks Islands as scheduled on Nov. 5.
“It could have been real easy to push [back] the date on this, but we’re committed,” Steve Goldberg, Southwest’s senior vice president of operations & hospitality said. “We think this is a great shot in the arm to say we’re a business partner; we want to be there and we’re looking to the future.”
Top island officials flew to South Florida to help celebrate the new route and tout Turks & Caicos’ posthurricane readiness.
“The timing is perfect. It’s spot on,” tourism minister Ralph Higgs said of the Southwest flight. “It sends a very strong signal that Southwest has confidence in our ability to recover and that they believe as we do, that we’re on the right path to recovery.”
“Although the islands suffered some damage, Turks & Caicos is in good shape,” added Stacy Cox, CEO, of the islands’ hotel and tourism association. “As of Dec. 15, ninety-nine percent of our hotel room inventory will be open.”
Caribbean locales that endured little to no hurricane damage are ramping up tourism campaigns to inform would-be visitors that it’s business as usual.
Last week, representatives from Antigua were at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show making contacts with boat owners, marinas and charter operators to reinforce the idea that the island was largely unaffected by the hurricanes.
In fact, several boat races were relocated to Antigua from the storm-ravaged islands and its local marinas have been offering fuel at cost to vessels aiding in recovery efforts on Barbuda and Dominica, a U.S. spokesman said Friday.
On Thursday, the Bahamas Tourist Office hosted a Fort Lauderdale event for local tourism and travel writers. Bahamas spokeswoman Earnestine Moxyz said the 700-island chain largely escaped hurricane damage. Two remote destinations, Ragged Island and Acklins, were affected.
“Those are our southern islands and they have the least amount of impact as it relates to tourism,” Moxyz said. “The rest of the Bahamas remains intact… All of our hotels, our marinas — are open for business.”