Tour operators and vacation packagers have been working
around the clock in the wake of three massive storms -- Harvey, Irma and Lidia --
to get clients out of the destinations impacted and to accommodate those canceling
or rebook their vacations.
Jack Richards, president and CEO of Pleasant Holidays, said
that Pleasant Holidays and the luxury Journese brand expect to process more
than 500 bookings impacted by the hurricanes, in addition to the hundreds of
customers impacted by flight cancellations in major airports including Atlanta,
Miami, Houston and Fort Lauderdale.
"In aggregate, this is one of the single largest
weather events in many years spread over numerous states and countries,"
said Richards, adding that the company is still assessing what losses it will
incur as it shifts bookings, waives change and cancellation fees, incentivizes
with alternative destination credits and loses some bookings entirely.
Currently he estimates that the losses will be in the six-figure range.
As they worked to assist large numbers of customers, tour
operators and wholesalers have had to deal with many logistical challenges in a
very short amount of time, which means that staffing has increased over the
past week.
Even though there was serious damage and devastation in key Caribbean destinations like St. Thomas and St. Maarten, tour operators reported that losses were mitigated because of lower demand during hurricane season in the Caribbean.
"The team has worked very hard to make sure that we
could account for every customer," said Elizabeth Moriarty, vice president
of product development for Delta Vacations, which sells several destinations
impacted by Hurricane Irma, including St. Martin/St. Maarten, St. Thomas,
Anguilla, Cuba and Turks and Caicos. "It does take additional resources
but that's something that we plan for."
Moriarty said that Delta Vacations has increased its call
center staffing by more than 30% to accommodate calls related to Hurricane
Irma.
Travel Impressions had travelers in St. Martin, St. Thomas,
and Turks and Caicos during Hurricane Irma. "While we have established
communication with our destination management companies who are, in turn, in
direct contact with our passengers, damage to infrastructure is making it
difficult to transport customers on those islands to those relief efforts, i.e.
relief flights, relief cruise ships and military boats," said Scott
Wiseman, president of Travel Impressions.
Wiseman noted that many customers departed the Caribbean prior to the
hurricane's arrival, save for several hundred in the Leeward Islands who were
unable to leave. All Travel Impressions passengers are safe and have already
returned or are in the process of returning, he said.
Martin Ruffo, Latin America product manager for Intrepid
Travel, said that the company made changes on the fly because of the disruption
of power in Cuba.
"It is taking engineers in Cuba longer than usual to
restore electricity to many parts of Cuba, so tour operators must adapt and
find different accommodations on trips," said Ruffo.
Despite this challenge, Intrepid has not discontinued its
Cuba departures.
Even though there was serious damage and devastation in key
Caribbean destinations like St. Thomas and St. Maarten, tour operators reported
that losses were mitigated because of lower demand during hurricane season in
the Caribbean.
"The good news is that the Caribbean is a very large
destination with a vast array of islands, the majority of which had little or
no impact from Hurricane Irma. The even better news is that most of
Pleasant Holidays' Caribbean portfolio, roughly two-thirds, is currently
operational. And the best possible news is that the indomitable spirit of the
Caribbean people is alive and well, and already working to rebuild where
needed," said Richards.