This year’s brutal storm season continues to rock the territory’s tourism sector, with Peter Island Resort & Spa and The Moorings laying off more than 200 people combined this month.

Of that number, 176 were let go from Peter Island, which suffered extensive hurricane damage and has not yet announced a timeline for reopening beyond stating the resort will remain closed for the “duration of 2017 and into late 2018.”

Chad James, director of human resources at the resort, declined to comment further about the island’s timeline but noted that 35 employees remain.

All employees had remained on the resort’s payroll until December, and those who were laid off are scheduled to be paid notice and severance this week, Mr. James explained, adding that they each can expect to receive an equal portion of the resort’s $175,700 GoFundMe campaign sometime soon.

There are “wheels in motion” to process employee pension payments as well, the HR director said.

Yacht business

The Moorings recently laid off 61 employees, though the company’s Virgin Islands location still employs more than 200 people, according to Josie Tucci, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.

Of the people laid off, 44 were permanent redundancies and 17 were short-term layoffs expected to return on Jan. 8, Ms. Tucci explained.

Following the storm, the company employed its entire staff for three months, as well as a number of freelance captains and chefs, she added.

The Moorings officially reopened Saturday, and the company is currently operating about 110 yachts, down from the 380-boat pre-Irma fleet, according to Ms. Tucci.

However, that number is changing every day and the company hopes to have 120-130 yachts by the holidays and a full-size fleet by 2020, the vice president explained.

“I think there’ll be a nice recovery,” she said.

The official reopening, she hopes, will spark the process of restoring customer confidence around the world as word spreads of the VI’s progress.

Industry layoffs

The Moorings and Peter Island were the latest in a series of tourism sector businesses that let people go or delayed new hires due to serious storm damages and diminished revenue streams.

Myett’s restaurant and hotel in Cane Garden Bay suffered catastrophic damage and was forced to lay off employees across the board.

The Turtle Bay Resort in Lambert was nearing its scheduled reopening date of November 2017. With that was supposed to come about 40 new jobs for residents and a few internships for students. The storm delayed that plan, however.

“Although Wyndham Turtle Bay Resort was so close to [finishing] its renovation, the resort was severely damaged and it’s with great sadness that we communicate that therefore [it] will not re-open this November,” the resort stated on its website.

The company did not provide a timeline for reopening.

On Virgin Gorda, Rosewood Little Dix Bay was scheduled to be nearing the end of an 18-month renovation period that saw about 300 people laid off in May 2016.

Hurricane damage forced the resort to delay its reopening — previously scheduled for December — to a yet-to-be-announced date, postponing the return of jobs to the island.

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