Posted by: Editor on Sep 08, 2006 – 10:02 AM
newsandinfo  In its recently released Third Quarter 2006 Off-Season Deals Report, CheapTickets.com, an online travel service, named The Islands Of The Bahamas one of the top five “come back” destinations after last year’s dramatic hurricane season.

The report, which reviews pricing of vacation packages for destinations during peak vs. off-peak season and then reports percentage savings to travelers, highlighted The Bahamas as a destination offering savings of up to almost 30 percent to visitors during July, August, and September. After sections of the country’s northwestern region, particularly Grand Bahama Island, were struck by high winds and the storm surge of Hurricane Wilma in 2005, recovery efforts in The Bahamas have been made to rebuild and restore affected areas.

Marita Hudson, of CheapTickets’ Cheap Squad stated, “Popular destinations have put endless hours into restoring their cities back to where they were before the 2005 hurricane season. Travelers who believe that lightning won’t strike twice in the same place can enjoy a vacation at significant savings and provide a valuable boost to local economies.”

Additionally, The Deals Report states that while restoration efforts in The Bahamas are still underway, visitors can still experience the island’s rich culture of music, art and food, on Grand Bahama Island and throughout the destination.

CheapTickets.com also highlighted destinations such as The Florida Keys (25 percent), Tampa, St. Petersburg, Fla., (24 percent) and New Orleans (22 percent), which represented the greatest savings for hurricane impacted regions in the United States.

Percentages were calculated based on vacation packages booked on CheapTickets.com before July 13, 2006 for travel during peak season in April-June, as compared to packages booked in July-September for travel during off-peak season.