NASSAU, Bahamas – Predicting an end to the Bahamas’ tourism slump caused by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Club Med said Thursday it will reopen its resort on Colombus Isle after a 10-month closure.
The 264-bungalow resort will reopen Dec. 7 and rehire 130 former employees, Club Med spokeswoman Valerie Bihet said.
A sharp drop in tourist arrivals after the attacks forced Club Med in November to close the resort on the Atlantic side of San Salvador island, 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Nassau, the capital.
To ensure a steady flow of visitors to the island, the hotel will launch a new charter service from New York and Paris beginning in December.
On Wednesday, the French hotel chain said it would not reopen its resort on St. Lucia due to a slow recovery in tourist arrivals since the attacks. Club Med closed the hotel in the southern town of Vieux Fort last October but offered to keep its employees at half-pay. The employees will stop receiving pay Oct. 24 and are negotiating benefits.
Club Med was one of five hotels in St. Lucia that closed after the Sept. 11 attacks. Two have since reopened
