Hurricane Maria: Updates From the Travel Industry
Skift Take
Some destinations preparing for Hurricane Maria were still bailing out from Hurricane Irma and the succession of intense hurricanes will have a long-term impact on many aspects of the region's tourism industry.
Hurricane Maria, a category five hurricane as of 5:00p.m. ET on September 19, is barreling through the Caribbean and targeting some of the same countries hit by Hurricane Irma earlier this month.
The storm is expected to make landfall as a category four hurricane (130-150 mile per hour winds) on Puerto Rico, which was mostly spared any destruction by Hurricane Irma except for widespread power outages, during Wednesday afternoon.
Before Maria hit, the Puerto Rico Tourism Company told Skift that its tourism infrastructure was in good shape post-Irma. “We’ve been open for business on the tourism front for a while post-Irma, and feel very confident we have the right preparedness plans in place [to recover quickly from Hurricane Maria]," said José Izquierdo, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.
"We’re fortunate to have recovered very well from Irma," he said. "Our tourism infrastructure has been fully operational and we have continued to welcome visitors to the island these past few weeks. While it’s too soon to tell, we feel optimistic it will be 'business as usual' across our major hotel and tourism attractions as soon as possible after Hurricane Maria."
