Heading ‘down south’ is one of the most popular spots for Atlantic Canadians to vacation.
However, with Hurricane Irma‘s recent trail of destruction, some travelers may not see their upcoming holiday go according to plan.
“We’re waiting for some updates right now from the hoteliers, from some of the little islands,” said Myranda Miller, Senior Consultant and Branch Partner with Maritime Travel at the Halifax Shopping Centre.
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This time of year is technically the ‘off season’ for most travelers heading south because of the hurricane season.
However, Miller says people still travel year-round to many island destinations.
“A lot of these areas too that were recently hit are on a lot of the cruise itineraries. If you were to look at an eastern or western cruise itinerary, a lot of these little islands are ports of call that you would go to, so they are effected because cruising is a year-round experience,” she said.
READ: Canadians who were barred from flight leaving Irma-ravaged Turks and Caicos cleared to fly home
According to Miller, tens of thousands of maritimers travel south annually.
During their busy season, Miller says Maritime Travel goes ‘non-stop’ to places like the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico and Cuba – where Irma made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane and battered parts of the island.
“Cayo Coco and Cayo Santa Maria specifically in Cuba were hit pretty hard. I do expect that it’s going to take some time for them to rebuild and recover from the recent hurricane,” said Miller.
Coverage of Hurricane Irma in Cuba on Globalnews.ca:
Miller says travel agents expect to get more information about what type of damage took place in areas like Cuba in the near future.
“We’ll be getting reports back over the next days and weeks and months about how they’re recovering and what to expect, if any changes need to be made to future travel plans and maybe sort of a timeline on the recovery process for the islands and for the hotels.”
READ: Hurricane Irma: Massive 36-foot waves slam Cuba’s capital Havana
If you already had a vacation booked for the coming months to an area that was recently impacted by Irma, Miller says it’s best to check with your travel agent if you have one.
“If you have insurance purchased and there’s an advisory on the Canadian traveler website that it’s not safe to travel or to change your plans and you have insurance then it’s very likely we can just go ahead and cancel and re-book on different destination or island,” she said.
“If you don’t have insurance and we’re sort of at the mercy of the tour operator and what they’re re-booking process will be, we’re just waiting for them to come out with those terms and conditions and we’ll re-book you accordingly”.