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Hurricane Irma, Harvey hoteliers picking up the pieces

From Antigua to Havana in the Caribbean and Miami to Naples and across to St. Augustine in Florida, the destruction created by super storm Hurricane Irma is still being assessed on Monday morning as it weakened heading farther north over land in the United States.

Calls to hoteliers in the Caribbean and Florida brought a mix of good, bad and still-to-be-determined news. Leaders of Florida-based Trust Hospitality and B Hotels & Resorts said early Monday that they are still assessing the damage to their hotels in the Florida Keys and Miami. News reports say power outages are rampant and water damage was greatest in lower Miami and on the west coast of the state, in Marco Island and up to Naples. Initial reports coming out of Tampa-St. Petersburg showed lighter damage than anticipated. A Florida emergency management official said that an initial assessment of the damage in the Keys was not catastrophic.

A Reuters report from Cuba said Havana experienced waves up to 36 feet and that the resort town of Varadero suffered extensive damage.

Further south and east, hard-hit St. Martin, St. Barts, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Barbuda were also taking stock, evacuating tourists and fending off looters. Images of the Bitter End Yacht Club resort on the British Virgin Islands showed extreme damage to property. A report out of St. Martin said a group of men overpowered security and staff at Simpson Bay Resort before heading to rooms to take jewelry and money. Marines and police moved in to control the situation.

Better news came from representatives of Sandals Resorts, which has a big presence in the Caribbean. They said guests and team members at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort & Spa in St. John’s, Antigua and Beaches Turks & Caicos in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, are safe. The Sandals team is focused on assisting guests with safe passage home. An initial review of Sandals Grande Antigua suggested that the resort sustained superficial damage, but a complete assessment will take place as soon as possible. 

Due to the impact of Irma and the close proximity to the previously announced closure set to begin on September 22 for resort maintenance, Sandals Grande Antigua will remain closed and will reopen on the previously scheduled date of December 20. At Beaches Turks & Caicos, the resort will not be accepting new arrivals until a thorough assessment of the property is completed.

In the Bahamas, Sandals Royal Bahamian, Nassau, escaped Hurricane Irma unscathed. Sandals Emerald Bay in Great Exuma, Bahamas, was also spared the worst of Hurricane Irma’s path and sustained no damage.

Caribbean rundown

The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association updated its report over the weekend concerning member hotels. Here is a rundown from CHTA:

Antigua: While waterlogged, it was not severely impacted by Hurricane Irma with electricity being resort to the capital, St. John’s and most parts of the island. Noteworthy Curtain Bluff emerged without any damage, and staff and their families are unharmed. The hotel is cleaning up the property and said communications will soon be restored. Jumby Bay Island said there was no structural damage to any of the resort or homes that it can identify. A landscaping clean-up will need to be done. At the same time, Hurricane Jose has passed Antigua and Barbuda and warnings have been downgraded to a tropical storm watch.

Anguilla: The airport is clear of debris and 90% of government buildings and business structures were damaged as well as 90% of the electricity infrastructure. There is also significant damage to the main water supply. Quintessence hotel had been expected to reopen November 1. However, damage from the hurricane have delayed those plans. Hurricane Jose has passed Anguilla and warnings have been downgrade to a tropical storm warning.

The Bahamas: There were 2,184 visitors throughout The Bahamas, according to a Saturday report. All hotels and resorts there had activated hurricane programs were taking precautions to protect visitors and residents where necessary.

British Virgin Islands: The islands were devastated, according to a statement from Sharon Flax-Brutus, director of tourism for the British Virgin Islands. With cellphone towers down and power outages, it has been difficult to receive communication from within the territory, and to fully assess the damage. Bitter End Yacht Club was seriously damaged but was closed at the time the hurricane struck. Peter Island Resort & Spa said its guests and on-island staff are safe. Rosewood Little Dix Bay is closed for renovation and therefore no guests were present at the resort and the management team was relocated to the safest possible place prior to the storm.

Dominican Republic: Punta Cana International Airport has resumed normal operations. The area’s hotel sector is reporting no major damages

Haiti: Reports indicated that damage and flooding is minor but warnings for possible flooding were in effect late into the weekend.

Puerto Rico: The electrical grid seemed to take the brunt of the storm as overgrown trees and debris downed power lines. Preliminary reports showed that major tourism infrastructure and attractions are operational and the island is welcoming new visitors. Hotels reported mostly minor damage and were cleaning up debris.

St. Kitts and Nevis: Minimal damage was reported and hotels in St. Kitts reported no structural damage. The Four Seasons Resort Nevis reported that the resort is in fine shape and all areas are generally dry.

St. Barthelemy: It has been reported that St. Barth’s was heavily impacted by Hurricane Irma, which destroyed government buildings and badly damaged private homes. There is flooding throughout the destination and the Eden Rock reported extensive damage.

St. Maarten (Dutch) / St. Martin (French): Much of the dual-island nation has suffered significant damage, with hotels, government offices, homes and smaller buildings badly damaged on both the Dutch and French sides of the island. Many of the hotels on the island are reporting significant damage with staff and guests safe. A hurricane warning is in effect for the island based on projected track of Hurricane Jose.

Turks and Caicos Islands: The director of tourism reported flooding, some structural damage, roofs that have been blown off, downed trees, no loss of life and all visitors are safe. As of Saturday, given the damage sustained on island, all guests are remaining on property pending further instructions from the authorities.

U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas): While St. Croix is getting back to business, visitors are being encouraged not to visit the district of St. Thomas and St. John. There is significant damage to infrastructure in St. Thomas and St. John. Resorts are reporting guests are safe and some closures, while others are still assessing the damage. A tropical storm watch is in effect for St. Thomas and St. John based on the projected track of Hurricane Jose.

Houston update

As the city of Houston continues to clean up from Hurricane Harvey, CBRE has published a report suggesting hotels throughout the region should see increased demand from locals seeking shelter and government workers coming in to assess damages. Although initial reports are of relatively few closures among Houston’s 868 hotels totaling 85,615 rooms, some properties that remained open suffered flooding and/or reduced services. 

Growth rates by market will vary from Hurricane Harvey’s impact, with Houston likely to see the largest increases in demand. Nearby cities like Austin, San Antonio and Dallas-Ft. Worth may also see demand from meetings and conventions originally booked for Houston.

Assuming that Hurricane Harvey has a similar impact as past major storms, that there is no significant increase in room rates and that there is no major decline in the number of available hotel rooms, then hotels in the five major Texas markets could generate an additional 3.4 million room nights of demand and roughly US$430 million in additional revenue. Given CBRE’s current U.S. forecast of a 3.5% increase in RevPAR for Q4 2017, this additional demand would increase the RevPAR growth rate to 4.4% for the quarter and raise the overall RevPAR outlook for the year to 3.1% from our current forecast of 2.8%.

Projected increases to supply could be significantly curtailed as hotels in Houston close for repairs and construction supplies becoming scarce, which limits the feasibility of adding new supply. Houston currently has more than 5,000 rooms under construction and many of those projects are now expected to be delayed because of the storm.

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