Rescue efforts are underway in Freeport, Bahamas, where photos show just how bad the flooding from Hurricane Dorian has become
Tourism accounts for 60% of the Bahamas economy. Dorian could devastate the industry.Ocean waves are seen during the approach of Hurricane Dorian on Sunday in Nassau, Bahamas.struggle to get its tourism-based economy backDorian has been moving slowly over the islands. The storm made landfall Sunday over the Abacos Islands as a Category 5 with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. It has slightly weakened to a Category 2 storm. At least five people have died as a result of the storm.
The damage to the Bahamanian economy might be mitigated by the path of the storm, which is currently crawling over the northern Bahamas. As a result, it is devastating areas with fewer hotel rooms compared to other areas of the country, according to Rick Newton, a founding partner at Resort Capital Partners.
The Abacos and Grand Bahama Islands have roughly 2,250 hotel rooms, which amounts to less than 15% of the hotel inventory in the country, Newton said. That's fewer than the roughly 11,000 rooms on the island Nassau, where mega-resorts such as Baha Mar and Atlantis are located.Tourism accounts for 60% of the Bahamas' $9 billion economy. Newton said it's too early to estimate how much money the damage will cost.
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Director General Joy Jibrilu said in a release that she's"deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of all those in Abaco and Grand Bahama Island" and that she's"grateful that the majority of our 700 islands and cays have been unaffected." Dorian's impacts on the tourism industry is now being felt in Florida as the storm moves closer to the United States. Disney announced some of its parks at Walt Disney World are closed or will be shortening hours until the storm passes. The company didn't immediately return comment about how much money it will lose.
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