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| Photo courtesy of The Guardian |
The Mexican government is still working fiercely to usher stranded tourists out of Los Cabos in the wake of Hurricane Odile, which struck the destination last Sunday night into Monday. The U.S. State Department is urging stranded travelers to head to the airport as soon as possible and be prepared to wait as long as necessary to get on a flight out.
The Mexican air force is airlifting tourists out on a first-come, first-served basis, as commercial airlines are still out of whack. The Los Cabos airport is being powered by an emergency generator because power outages still prevail across the region. According to Tourism Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu, 8,000 people, including tourists and locals, were supposed to have been flown out yesterday.
Here is an updated look at the hotels and tour operators in the region:
The Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort continues to have power via a generator and has the necessary provisions to continue providing meals, beverages and water. "We have been informed that Mexican military authorities are now evacuating travelers, and have been advised that hotels will be notified when it is time for their guests to be transported," the hotel's Facebook page reports. "We continue working with the local authorities and tourism partners to provide the necessary updates as they become available." The Hilton still remains closed to arrivals and is no longer accepting reservations.
Esperanza, An Auberge Resort reports that phone lines and internet communications are still not function, but they are working to restore them. Once the staff has access to communication they will respond to all inquiries. The resort is closed through October 13, 2014.
All guests at the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar made it on flights out of the airport to various destinations yesterday. Starwood's private charter was delayed arriving in Los Cabos because the government halted inbound airport operations for a number of hours. The guests of the Westin Los Cabos were flown out on Wednesday.
A large number of guests flew out from the Secrets Marquis Los Cabos, as well. Additional guests received transportation to the airport yesterday with the understanding that they would evacuate yesterday afternoon. The hotel is extending its reopening date to October 15. Guests who have reservations through the 14th may travel to the same brand that was previously reserved in an alternate destination for the same rate that was booked in Los Cabos; guests may cancel their reservation without penalty; or guests choosing to arrive in Los Cabos at a later date will receive the previously honored rates for up to a year, based on availability.
GOGO Vacations tells Travel Agent that they had 133 passengers in Los Cabos at the time of the storm. GOGO Vacations has an outreach program in place to contact all customers who were stranded to offer assistance. There are hundreds more passengers scheduled to depart to Los Cabos between now and October 31 and all those scheduled are being contacted and offered re-accommodation services.
Stay tuned to www.travelagentcentral.com as more becomes available.