If you were thinking of cancelling your winter sun holiday, think again.
As the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Katrina, Hurricane Irma ripped through the Caribbean earlier this month. Yet one week later and these resorts have already bounced back.
If you’ve planned trips to these destinations, we’ve got some good news for you.
Palm Beach
One week after Hurricane Irma struck Florida, 98 percent of Palm Beach County’s hotels and 90 percent of the region’s cultural attractions are open again.
Discover The Palm Beaches, the official tourism marketing corporation for Palm Beach County, have declared that nearly all 17,000 hotel rooms in the area are open to tourists.
In fact, just look at this this aerial video from Friday 15th September, the last day of Hurricane Irma. It shows the destination from a bird’s eye view. All pretty calm, right?
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By GlobalDataPalm Beach County has been one of the fastest states to recover from the trauma of Irma. Palm Beach International Airport opened within 48 hours of the storm. It was the first airport in South Florida to reopen.
Golfers can relax too, as the county has now opened 54 of its parks to the public again.
The CEO of Discover the Palm Beaches, Jorge Pesquera, told Verdict: “We experienced comparatively little damage from Irma and we were lucky. Our tourist attractions are now open and the ocean looks an inviting as ever.”
Orlando and Savannah
Nearly all hotels and resorts in Orlando and Savannah have now reopened in the wake of Irma.
Walt Disney World’s six parks are up and running again, as are Universal Orlando Resort’s theme parks and SeaWorld Orlando.
The President of Visit Savannah, Joseph Marinelli, said this week: “We had about 45 minutes of minor flooding on Monday on River Street, which attracts visitors, but we were able to bounce back quickly.”
Nearby Sea Island Resort, off the coast of Georgia, was hit by severe debris from the storm. However the resort opened again yesterday after wreckage was cleared.
St Kitts and Nevis
St Kitts was almost entirely unharmed from Irma and Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport is still open. The Vance W. Amory International Airport in Nevis is also open.
Hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort Nevis are still hosting guests as normal.
Antigua
Fortunately, Hurricane Irma left Antigua unscathed. Nearly all of the island’s resorts and hotels are open for business after the passing of the storm. The Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority have stressed that Antigua is up and running, despite being hit by one of the worst storms to hit the island in over a decade.
Neighbouring island Barbuda, however, is now a nearly-deserted wreckage zone. Almost all of its 1,500 residents left for Antigua, which is only a 90-minute boat ride away, when the hurricane was on it’s way.
Antigua’s Pineapple Beach Club and Blue Waters Resort and Spa both opened this week and Antigua’s new state-of-the-art VC Bird international airport is running as usual.