Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine April 2018 | Page 243

ACCOMMODATIONS
A total of 393 hotel/guest house rooms are
available. This represents 41 percent of the
total stock of 962 rooms available before
Hurricane Maria. Fort Young Hotel will open
additional rooms and Secret Bay, Calibishie
Cove and Citrus Creek Planation are expected
to reopen in the last quarter of 2018. Two
additional properties, Jungle Bay Resort and
Cabrits Resort Kempinski, are expected to open
during the first half of 2019, and Anichi Resort
late in 2019. The opening of these three hotels
will increase Dominica’s room stock by 340.
SITES AND ATTRACTIONS
The majority of sites and attractions, 19 of the
23 on the island, have been officially declared
open to visitors. These include the signature
sites of Trafalgar Falls, Middleham Falls,
Emerald Pool, Fresh Water Lake and the Indian
River. Visitors can enjoy magnificent easy to
moderate hikes across the island including,
Syndicate Nature Trail, Cabrits/Fort Shirley and
others. Diving tours are currently available with
six dive operators offering dive tours at all of
the key dive sites on the north, south and west
coasts of the island. Divers can explore a world
of incredible underwater vistas and discover
why Dominica is ranked amongst the world’s
top ten dive sites.
VOLUNTOURISM PACKAGES
Dominica encourages visitors to get involved
in meaningful tourism by considering
a Voluntourism package. These unique
packages are offered to assist Dominica with
the cleanup of sites such as the Indian River,
dive sites and the Waitukubuli National Trail.
Packages are being offered by the Tamarind
Tree Hotel, Fort Young Hotel, Secret Bay, Cobra
Tours, Cool Breeze Tours and Cabrits Dive.
CRUISE TRAVEL
Before Hurricane Maria, Dominica was on
course to receive 219 cruise calls during the
2017-2018 cruise season. This number has
since been reduced to 34 calls and the country
welcomed the first cruise vessel following the
hurricane on December 28, 2017. The Sea
Cloud II anchored off Portsmouth and one
month later, the MV Mein Schiff 3 of TUI cruises
docked at the Roseau cruise ship berth. Since
then, the island has received an additional
16 cruise calls. Carnival Cruises is expected to
make a total of five visits, commencing with
three in July, 2018.
The people of Dominica continue to show
their resilience and steadfastness in building a
better Dominica.
Photo Credit: Discover Dominica Authority