Articles tagged “hurricanes”

While Hurricane Ian left its physical mark on a few destinations in Florida, it delivered a media image scar much wider in geographic scope that will be a challenge to overcome.

“What Hurricane Ian was not able to wash away, though, is our resilience." Those are the words of hope from one tourism official in Lee County along Florida's Gulf Coast. It will take every bit of that resilience to restore the region's once-thriving tourism trade.

Airbnb.org and Expedia Group are providing support to people displaced by Hurricanes Fiona and Ian.

Details are still being hammered out for this new Caribbean marketing fund as hurricane season officially begins June 1. Many cruise ship passengers already consider the Caribbean as a collective destination, but still, why did it take decades for this fund to come about?

A true test of any business is how they cope when things go wrong. This is especially true when it's out of their control. Hotels hit by the recent hurricanes will have learned plenty of lessons from their varied experiences.

Marketing campaigns are always a key ingredient in responding to natural disasters, and showing travelers that a destination hasn't completely bottomed out. To get the message out, it also helps to have sufficient funding and resources, which some islands are currently lacking.

Cruise passengers are still taking the trips they had planned for this time of year in the Caribbean, despite recent storms. As operators seek to reassure travelers that the region is open for business, it's still unclear how demand for cruises next hurricane season will hold up.

Many Caribbean destinations are on the road to recovery from recent storms, but they are also at the mercy of government relief efforts, which have fallen way short in some places. In Puerto Rico's case, the island is dealing with the federal government, which treated hurricanes on the U.S. mainland much more seriously.

The recent hurricanes are expected to have mostly short-term impacts on business travel and economic forecasts, but they exposed serious weaknesses in companies’ preparations for disruption caused by extreme weather.

The cruise industry in the Caribbean quickly pivoted as it headed into its busiest season. While cruise lines might be able to scrape by relatively unharmed — it's easy to change ports when something goes wrong — the negative impact on destinations missing out on cruise sailings will be felt for years.