Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September of 2017. The Category 4 storm caused widespread flooding, destroyed buildings, and cut off power too much of the island. 68 percent of Puerto Rico residents still don’t power.

Tobago hoteliers are reporting between 30 and 50 per cent decline in room occupancy and believe regular visitors to the island are losing trust in the reliability of the airbridge and seabridge.

2017 was particularly eventful when it came to how we travel the world. The threats that loomed largest in 2016, Zika and the migrant crisis, faded into the rear-view mirror as talk of a United States travel ban and Brexit suddenly dominated global headlines.

As 2017 draws to a close, members of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA) have made predictions for next year.

Although final visitor numbers for 2017 won't be tallied for another month or so, the Dominican Republic appears to be the clear winner once again in the Caribbean and is poised to top its 6.1 million-visitor-mark achieved in 2016.

Despite a flurry of news reports that would seem to indicate otherwise, it’s still possible for Americans to travel independently to Cuba.