St. Kitts Welcomes Tourists as Airport, Cruise Port and Tourism Providers Resume Operations Unscathed by Hurricane Irma

The beachfront at the Marriott on St. Kitts. The island was relatively unscathed by Hurricane Irma and is back welcoming tourists to its airports, cruise ports and hotels. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Basseterre, St. Kitts (September 15, 2017) – St. Kitts’ tourism authority reports that the island’s airport, cruise port and all tourism providers are open and resuming normal operations, as it was fortunate to be virtually unscathed by Hurricane Irma.

American Airlines’ daily non-stop flights to St. Kitts’ Robert L, Bradshaw International Airport from Miami have resumed today with the Saturday JFK non-stop scheduled to resume on tomorrow. Seaborne Airlines’ daily non-stop flights to St. Kitts from San Juan have also resumed tomorrow. All hotels and resorts are fully operational and the Park Hyatt St. Kitts remains on schedule to debut November 1.

“We are thrilled to get back to business as usual and ready to welcome visitors,” said Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism, International Trade, Industry and Commerce. “For those who planning to travel to island, we look forward to providing a world-class experience and all the warm Kittitian hospitality for which we have become known.”

Cruise lines have resumed scheduled port calls to St. Kitts, with passengers from The Carnival Fascination enjoying the island’s various attractions and activities last Friday. Over the course of the next week, a total of four vessels are scheduled to dock at Port Zante, including Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas on September 21. With the arrival of the Carnival Magic on September 20, St. Kitts expects to welcome its one millionth passenger this year. A historic first for the island, the occasion also raises St. Kitts to marquee port status.

“At this time, we continue to send our thoughts and prayers to everyone who has been affected by the storm, particularly to those in need of emergency relief.” For anyone wishing to donate to the recovery efforts of those islands most severely impacted by the hurricane, two official Caribbean Relief Funds are:

The Caribbean Tourism Recovery Fund at www.tourismcares.org/caribbean

The Caribbean Tourism Association Hurricane Relief Fund at www.gofundme.com/hurricane-relief-fund-cto

For more information about St. Kitts, visit www.stkittstourism.kn.

 

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‘St. Kitts is Open for Business,’ Tourism Authority Says After Hurricane Irma

From a promontory on St. Kitts, you can see the rolling waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the left and the calm Caribbean Sea on the right. St. Kitts was relatively unscathed by Hurricane Irma’s wrath and is welcoming tourists © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

Basseterre, St. Kitts  – St. Kitts Tourism authorities are reporting that the Federation is virtually unscathed following the passage of Hurricane Irma. “Considering the minimal damage that was sustained, the islands’ tourism providers are in the process of reopening. Hotels are returning to business as usual and guests are continuing to enjoy their stays.  Our restaurants, attractions and shops including the many popular retail outlets at Port Zante are now open, with The Carnival Fascination confirmed to visit St. Kitts as planned,” the tourism authority stated.

“Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has kept St. Kitts & Nevis in thoughts and prayers while we awaited the passage of the storm,” said Minister of Tourism, International Trade, Industry and Commerce the Hon. Mr. Lindsay F.P. Grant.  While we are beginning to resume normal operations, please join me in continuing to send thoughts and prayers to those who have been more seriously impacted.”

St. Kitts’ Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport (SKB) is open and accepting flights.  However, due to the impact of Hurricane Jose, many airlines may have canceled flights. It is highly recommended to check with your airline for schedule and service changes.

St. Kitts is open for business. For more information about the island, visit www.stkittstourism.kn

 

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Hotels Available to Those Seeking Shelter in The Palm Beaches After Hurricane Irma

Sunrise over the Palm Beaches © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.  – Discover The Palm Beaches, the official tourism marketing corporation for Palm Beach County, has been closely monitoring the reports on ground conditions following Hurricane Irma’s impact. Due to the eye of the storm’s redirection to the west, The Palm Beaches, as a destination, was fortunate to experience very minimal damage as compared with the rest of the state.

“While The Palm Beaches are on the path to regaining normalcy for its residents and visitors, our hearts go out to those in our great state and other affected areas who have experienced damage in the path of Hurricane Irma,” said Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO for Discover The Palm Beaches. “We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have Palm Beaches International Airport (PBIA) reopen yesterday, and we are on the path to ‘business as usual’ with many companies expected to re-open on Wednesday.”

Several hoteliers across The Palm Beaches are offering special rates for those in need of shelter and accommodations.

Hotel and Lodging Updates:

The following hotels in The Palm Beaches are currently open. Call directly for hotel availability and rates.

Boca Raton Plaza Hotel & Suites

http://www.BocaRatonPlaza.com

Boca Raton Resort & Club, A Waldorf Astoria Resort

http://www.bocaresort.com/

Boca Raton Wyndham Hotel

http://www.wyndhamboca.com/

Casa Grandview Historic Luxury Inn Cottages & Suites

http://www.casagrandview.com/

Courtyard by Marriott Boynton Beach

http://www.marriott.com/pbibb

Courtyard by Marriot Palm Beach Jupiter

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pbija-courtyard-palm-beach-jupiter/

** DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Palm Beach Garden

http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-and-executive-meeting-center-palm-beach-gardens-PBIMPDT/index.html

** DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel West Palm Beach Airport

http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-west-palm-beach-airport-PBIAADT/index.html

** Embassy Suites Boca Raton

http://embassysuites3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/embassy-suites-by-hilton-boca-raton-BCTNWES/index.html

Embassy Suites Palm Beach Gardens – PGA Boulevard

http://embassysuites3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/embassy-suites-by-hilton-palm-beach-gardens-pga-boulevard-PBIPGES/index.html

Embassy Suites West Palm Beach

http://www.eswestpalmbeach.com/

Hampton Inn Boca Raton

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hampton-inn-boca-raton-BCTFLHX/index.html

Hampton Inn Jupiter/Juno Beach

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hampton-inn-jupiter-juno-beach-PBIJBHX/index.html

Hilton Garden Inn Palm Beach Gardens

http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/hilton-garden-inn-palm-beach-gardens-PBIGDGI/index.html

Holiday Inn Express Boca Raton

https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/us/en/boca-raton/bctls/hoteldetail

Holiday Inn Palm Beach Airport

http://www.hipalmbeachairport.com/

Homewood Suites by Hilton Palm Beach Gardens

http://homewoodsuites3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/homewood-suites-by-hilton-palm-beach-gardens-PBIHWHW/index.html

Homewood Suites by Hilton West Palm Beach

http://homewoodsuites3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/homewood-suites-by-hilton-west-palm-beach-PBICTHW/index.html 

Hyatt Place Boca Raton

https://www.bocaraton.place.hyatt.com/

Hyatt Place Delray Beach

https://delraybeach.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

Hyatt Place West Palm Beach Downtown

http://www.westpalmbeach.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html 

Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa

https://www.jupiterbeachresort.com/

** Palm Beach Gardens Marriott

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pbipg-palm-beach-gardens-marriott/

** PGA National Resort & Spa

http://www.pgaresort.com/

Ramada Boca Raton

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/ramada/boca-raton-florida/ramada-boca-raton/overview

Red Roof Inn Plus + West Palm Beach

https://www.redroof.com/

** Residence Inn by Marriott West Palm Beach

http://www.residenceinn.marriott.com/

Residence Inn Downtown West Palm Beach

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/pbird-residence-inn-west-palm-beach-downtown-cityplace-area/

SpringHill Suites by Marriott West Palm Beach

http://www.marriott.com/pbiwi

Waterstone Resort & Marina, Curio Collection by Hilton

www.waterstoneboca.com

Wyndham Grand Jupiter At Harbourside Place

http://www.wyndhamgrandjupiter.com/

Note, those hotels with two asterisks are open but were sold out at the time of release distribution. To continually monitor hotel availability in The Palm Beaches in real-time, refer to the accommodations list here: http://www.thepalmbeaches.com/severe-weather/accommodations

 

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Website Lists Hotel Room Availability During Hurricane Irma in The Palm Beaches

The grand, historic Breakers Hotel on Palm Beach island must now brace for Hurricane Irma. Discover The Palm Beaches has deployed a storm update page as a resource regarding hotel room availability © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (September 8, 2017) – Discover The Palm Beaches, the official tourism marketing corporation for Palm Beach County, has deployed a storm update page as a resource regarding hotel room availability during the potential impact of Hurricane Irma. The page can be found at: www.thepalmbeaches.com/severe-weather/accommodations.

The page is also accessible on www.ThePalmBeaches.com and will feature a list of hotel and lodging options throughout Palm Beach County with available occupancy. In addition, the page is linked to a list of key agencies that provide important resources for hurricane preparedness in Palm Beach County and throughout Florida.

“Our top priority is the safety of our visitors, conference attendees, residents, and tourism partners. This webpage will help ensure that these groups can remain informed in real time regarding the availability of resources to assist them during the potentially severe weather,” said Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO for Discover The Palm Beaches. “We encourage everyone in the area to monitor our website as we continue to keep our eye on the storm and its potential impact on our area.”

Current weather forecasts have issued hurricane advisories that include Palm Beach County. Visitors are encouraged to exercise caution and check with airlines, hotels, meeting venues, car rental companies, tour operators, etc. to determine what actions they plan to take and what methods are in place to assist potentially displaced travelers.

Travelers, conference delegates and residents should also look to the following sources for information:

• National Weather Service: www.weather.gov/
• National Hurricane Center: www.nhc.noaa.gov
• VISIT FLORIDA travel advisories on www.VISITFLORIDA.com
• VISIT FLORIDA Partners and businesses in the Florida tourism industry hotline, (877) 435-2872
• Florida Division of Emergency Management: floridadisaster.org
• General tourism information: VISIT FLORIDA consumer hotline, 888-735-2872
• Florida Power & Light (FPL) Storm Center: www.fpl.com/storm
• Palm Beach County public affairs: http://discover.pbcgov.org/

 

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Travel Insurance Company Warns of Widespread Disruptions as Florida, Caribbean Prepare for Hurricane Irma

MIAMI, FL (Sept. 5, 2017) – As Houston continues to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, another potentially life-threatening storm is churning east of the Caribbean with a trajectory that will likely reach Florida by the end of the week, according to APRIL Travel Protection. Hurricane Irma (NASA satellite view of developing storm pictured) has recently been upgraded to Category 5.

“While it’s still too early to tell what kind of impact Hurricane Irma will have on the U.S. mainland, the storm is on a direct path for the Caribbean with islands in the northeast region from Puerto Rico to Antigua and Barbuda in its crosshairs,” said Jason Schreier, CEO for the Miami-based U.S. division of 29-year-old APRIL Group.

Policyholders who purchased travel insurance from APRIL for an affected destination before the storm was named on Aug. 30 are eligible for trip cancellation. Additionally, policyholders currently on vacation in affected areas may be eligible for trip interruption and evacuation benefits under APRIL’s flagship “Stress Less” Benefits which utilize instant adjudication to bypass the claims process for applicable inconveniences.

A ground-breaking feature first introduced to the U.S. market by APRIL, ‘Stress Less’ Benefits allow policyholders to enjoy their vacation without having to worry about out-of-pocket expenses in an emergency caused by severe weather, natural disasters or a wide range of potential issues including injury, sickness, death, job loss or relocation, military duty, terrorism, strikes, supplier default and more. “This means you don’t have to pay out of pocket, endure a ton of paperwork and then wait months to find out how much your policy will actually cover,” explained Schreier.

“Though Hurricane Harvey was only a tropical storm when it traversed the Caribbean, the proximity of these storms lends credence to some of the dire predictions made by forecasters for the 2017 hurricane season, which may stretch into November this year,” noted Schreier.

Earlier this year, Global Weather Oscillations, which is known for its reliability with an impressive 87% accuracy, predicted that the “2017 Atlantic hurricane season will be the most dangerous in 12 years.”

APRIL Travel Protection is owned by APRIL, an international group with 45 operational companies in more than 40 different countries.  APRIL is listed on Euronext Stock Exchange and has yearly sales of more than $1.1 billion.

With Insurance Made Easy as it guiding principle, the APRIL Global Assistance Network benefits from an extensive organizational structure servicing more than six million policyholders worldwide.

The company’s U.S. division is supported by American Modern Insurance Group (an AM Best A+ rated carrier) as its preferred underwriter and is headquartered at 11900 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 600, Miami, FL, 33181. Visit www.AprilTravelProtection.com to learn more.

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Accuweather: Hurricane Irma tracking toward US; Residents of East and Gulf coasts urged to prepare now

By Jordan Root and Renee Duff, Meteorologists for AccuWeather.com

AccuWeather Global Headquarters – September 4, 2017 – As major Hurricane Irma churns across the northern Caribbean and towards the United States, residents along the Gulf and East coasts of the U.S. need to be on alert, AccuWeather reports

Irma will blast the northern Caribbean with flooding rain, damaging winds and rough surf this week, bringing life-threatening conditions to the islands.

A similar scenario could play out somewhere along the Gulf or East coasts this weekend or next week, depending on where Irma tracks. Residents are urged to prepare now.

“This hurricane has the potential to be a major event for the East Coast. It also has the potential to significantly strain FEMA and other governmental resources occurring so quickly on the heels of Harvey,” Evan Myers, expert senior meteorologist and chief operating officer, said.

A landfall in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas is all in the realm of possibilities. Irma could also head into the Gulf of Mexico.

Another scenario still on the table is that Irma curve northward and miss the East Coast entirely. This would still generate large surf and rip currents along the East Coast. However, this scenario is the least likely to occur at this point.

The exact path of Irma beyond the end of the week remains uncertain and will depend on a variety of moving parts in the atmosphere.

“A large area of high pressure across the central North Atlantic is helping to steer Irma,” AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.

This feature will be the main driving force of Irma over the next few days. As the weekend approaches, other factors will come into play.

“The eastward or northeast progression of a non-tropical system pushing across the central and eastern U.S. this week will highly impact the long-range movement of Irma,” Kottlowski said.

How fast or slow this non-tropical system moves will be an important factor on where Irma is steered this weekend into next week. The speed of this feature will determine when and how much Irma gets pulled northward or whether Irma continues on more of a westward track.

This amount of uncertainty means that the entire southern and eastern U.S. should monitor Irma this week. Residents along the coast are urged to start preparing and making sure plans are in place to deal with the worst case scenario. This includes plans on how to evacuate and what is important to bring with you and your family.

“As we saw just 10 days ago with Harvey, it is important to be ready to evacuate,” Myers said. Be prepared with a list of items you would need to take if you had 30 minutes’ notice or one hour’s notice or six hours or a day to evacuate.

Due to Irma following so closely on Harvey’s heels and since FEMA and other government resources will be strained, more preparation and storm aftermath may rest on individuals, Myers said. It may be crucial to evacuate ahead of the storm, so preparation is key.

If Irma were to make landfall as a Category 4 or 5 storm somewhere in the U.S., it would be in historical territory.

“The U.S. has not sustained a direct hit from two Category 4 or above hurricanes in more than 100 years,” Myers said.

Keep checking back to AccuWeather.com for updates on the status of Irma and where it may track in the days ahead.

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