As Hurricane Irma barrels down on the Caribbean and swirls toward Florida with winds reaching 280 km/h, plenty of Canadian travellers are being forced to abandon their vacation plans.
So far Irma has struck the island nations of Antigua, Anguilla, Barbuda, St. Martin, St. Kitts and Nevis, and the Virgin Islands, while much of Puerto Rico lost power Thursday after it was glanced by powerful winds and torrential rains.
Countries within Irma鈥檚 path include Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Cuba. Florida is expected to be hit over the weekend.
As CTV Toronto鈥檚 Pat Foran reports, travellers interested in cancelling their upcoming vacations are advised to contact the company they booked with and double-check the fine print. In some cases, travel companies are being flexible and offering travel credits, destination changes or free rescheduling.
Some companies have already issued statements in anticipation of concerns. Sunwing issued a statement Thursday saying that it was putting more flexible policies in place for those looking to rebook or change their travel destination.
At Travel Nation, a Canadian travel company, agents were busy Thursday speaking with concerned travellers.
Jonathan Carroll, the company鈥檚 president, said that in past years travellers already on vacation would be advised to stay put and wait out the worst of the storm at their resorts.
This time, airlines and tour companies have flown thousands of travellers back home -- a response Carroll says deserves credit.
鈥淚 think what you鈥檝e seen with the airlines and the tour operators this year is they鈥檙e very much proactive in what they鈥檙e doing to bring back customers and take them out of harm鈥檚 way,鈥� he said.
In some cases, tour operators have cancelled flights in the path of Irma while tour groups have put a freeze on vacation packages until Sunday, when the storm is expected to have lost much of its strength.
Even after Irma loses steam, hurricane season could mean another powerful storm in the region in weeks to come, so travelers are advised to keep an eye on the forecast.
And for anyone considering a vacation sometime this fall, Carroll said he expects plenty of good deals to be available once the storm subsides. Some companies have already started slashing prices by up to 50 per cent.
With a report from CTV Toronto鈥檚 Pat Foran
