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Mexico carnage to cost operators £20m
Operators are facing a £20 million bill for flights alone following the hurricane in Mexico, the Federation of Tour Operators has estimated.
Director general Andy Cooper said the devastation has hit the industry hard with companies still unsure when programmes will resume.
Health and safety experts from the major operators are in Cancun and surrounding resorts this week assessing the damage.
MyTravel has already indicated the cost of repatriating customers and cancelling the programme has cost £4 million.
Speaking to TravelMole this morning, Cooper also rebuked suggestions that holidaymakers should have been evacuated well before hurricane Wilma unleashed its power on the Yucatan peninsula.
He insisted correct decisions were taken be members.
“In the week leading up the hurricane, it was forecast to skirt the Yucatan peninsula and move into the Gulf of Mexico,” said Cooper. “It was the correct decision not to take people out. It’s easy with hindsight to say what should have happened but I don’t believe caution is the right approach.”
He said holidaymakers were evacuated from Jamaica last year as hurricane Ivan approached only to be flown into fierce storms in the Dominican Republic.
Cooper said the long term financial damage of Wilma was unclear but estimated flights alone have already cost operators £20 million.
“Everyone has got safety experts out there and no one has made a definitive decision about when programmes will resume,” he said. “There are big variations in the damage to hotels. The Riviera Maya was not as badly hit as Cancun but if the bulk of an operator’s programme is in Cancun it may not justify operating an aircraft.
“You must also have a surrounding infrastructure and it’s unclear whether bars and restaurants will be able to open.”
He said a clearer picture should emerge later this week.
Report by Steve Jones
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