“Within two to three days, things will be back to normal in the Islands of Guadeloupe,” Annick Girardin, the French Minister for the Overseas Department of France, said in a statement.

Yet the damage in other places was so extensive that despite the projected loss of crucial revenue, government officials this week were not focused on tourism; they were still struggling to ensure people’s health and safety. Puerto Rico, for instance, is grappling with catastrophic flooding and widespread damage and power outages. American Airlines said that it would resume partial operations there on Friday to deliver supplies and bring more personnel to assist in restarting its operations at San Juan Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. The airline said its operations are still suspended to the Turks and Caicos Islands, St. Croix, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. Indeed, the U.S. Virgin Islands said visits should be postponed until further notice.



How badly the tourism industry will suffer is still being determined; in certain places the storm’s reverberations will likely be felt for years. On some islands, hotels have closed for repairs until next year and cruise lines are changing itineraries for at least the next few months. Royal Caribbean International said that future sailings will not stop at ports in Sint Maarten, St. Thomas or Key West until those islands have recovered. Norwegian Cruise Line said that all Norwegian Escape eastern Caribbean sailings until November will be changed to a western Caribbean itinerary. Following Irma, the ships went from being floating playgrounds to rescue vessels.

The situation varies greatly from island to island, and is changing day by day. The Florida Keys, for instance, are not quite ready for tourism, though they are moving closer. Highway repairs have been made, and residents have returned to the islands. Puerto Rico, on the other hand, dodged Irma only to be undone by Maria.