By Froilan Parra Suarez / Granma / 

Despite the heavy damage caused by Hurricane Ike to the tourism sector in the province of Holguin, the industry is recovering quickly.

The provincial representative from the Ministry of Tourism, Lorenzo Perez, said that spirits are high as workers come together to rebuild as quickly as possible after the disaster.

Good organization and discipline resulted in no losses to equipment and most damage occurred to roofs, carpets and windows.

While workers replace roofs and windows, electrician are working hard to return electricity in all the tourist facilities.

”The damage to hotels is recoverable. We have the resources needed to return to normality in a short time and get ready for the upcoming season,” said Fernando Perez, a Gaviota Oriente representative.

More than 2,400 tourists were at hotels when Ike struck, and gave very favourable reports on the protection and services they received.

Louise Boyle, a representative from the UK company, TUITravel, who spent the hurricane along with 389 tourists in facilities belonging to the Club Amigo Atlántico-Guardalavaca company, expressed her satisfaction with the care given and the constant concern for the health and safety of tourists.

“We will bring our tourists back to these facilities,” she said.

Froilan Parra Suarez

I guess all the homes of the Cuban people have been restored and all their electricity is back on so now they can focus on getting the hotels for tourists back in working order.

Way to go Raul. Make sure you have your priorities in order.

Holguin Restores Fifty Percent of Electricity    

By Leonardo Pupo / AIN

The eastern province of Holguin has restored the 50 percent of the provincial electric service, one of the sectors most damaged in Cuba by the passing of Hurricane Ike.

Hector Lugo, a provincial electric company representative, told the provincial defense council that electrical infrastructure gradually being re-established across the province.

Residential sectors, hospitals, bakeries, food processing and service centers, and water supply facilities are receiving electricity by way of the national power grid or generators.

Most of the problems in the electric system were originated primarily by trees falling in urban areas and high voltage lines.

Electric crews from the provinces of Granma and Sancti Spiritus are supporting the local forces to restore, in the shortest possible time, the electricity in the province.

Hurricane Ike hit the north-eastern province of Holguin on September 7 at 9:00 pm until midnight. It made landfall at Lucrecia Point, Banes as a Category 3 hurricane.

Ike caused severe damage to houses, crops and electric poles, especially in the municipalities of Gibara, Banes, Antilla, Rafael Freyre, Holguin and Mayarí.

i was on guardalavaca recently while on holidays in cuba and i found the area almost completely restored, the hotels were fine, and i saw lots fo people rebuilding houses