Three hotels opened recently in Martinique, adding to the island's total room inventory of 6,000 rooms.

The Pomme Cannelle Village, in the north of the island, offers 16 guest apartments and targets extended-stay visitors who want to hike and explore the region. Weekend, 15-day and one-month rates are offered. 

Further south in the capital of Fort-de-France, the 24-room L'Imperatrice has reopened following a yearlong, extensive renovation. The hotel was built in the 1950s and is named after Empress Josephine, Napoleon's wife.

Outside of the capital city is La Suite Villa, which offers six suites in the main house and nine Creole-style villas. 

Meanwhile, La Maison de la Nature park in Morne Rouge in Martinique's central region reopened in October, after an upgrade of facilities and signage.

The park offers miles of nature trails and more than 100 species of tropical flora and fauna.

Hotel and cruise officials, still reeling from the labor strikes last February on both Martinique and Guadeloupe which impacted tourist arrivals, are currently meeting with Marie-Luce Penchard, France's overseas minister, to discuss methods of reviving the tourism industry.

Martinique's visitor numbers totaled 280,000 through July, a 7% drop over the same period in 2008.