The Perfect Storm: Can Incentive Travel Weather the Aftermath?

As the 2004 hurricane season draws to a close, one thing is for sure—it's been an ugly one. Much of Florida and the islands of the Caribbean suffered extensive damage, and several hotels were affected by the storms.

Between August 13 and September 25, hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne combined to create the worst hurricane season in decades. Complete damage estimates were not available at press time, but the Caribbean Hotel Association says about 5,000 of the 123,000 rooms it represents were seriously affected.

The Florida Hotel & Motel Association (FHMA) was much less specific in its assessment. "We've got about 400,000 guest rooms in Florida and somewhere between 20 to 30 to 50 percent of those are in areas that were hit," says Thomas Waits, president of the FHMA. "And while many survived, some sustained serious damage."

Most of the properties that closed for more than a few days as a result of the storms were expected to reopen in late fall, but a few will remain closed until February or later.

"It's been a struggle, a catastrophe from which it will take some time to recover," says McKeeva Bush, the Cayman Islands' Minister of Tourism, Environment and Development. Bush says 90 percent of the island nation's hotels were damaged in the storm, and many hotels there will be closed until late this month.

Meanwhile, the hotel associations of Florida and the Caribbean, and other hospitality representatives, are working hard on marketing campaigns to keep travelers interested and updated. In Florida, the tourism community will ask the state legislature for emergency marketing funds in a special session later this month.