By Vanessa Bauzá
HAVANA BUREAU

HAVANA · Hotel workers on Friday scrambled to prepare their resorts for Hurricane Ivan while tourists hurried to the airport, cutting their vacations short for fear the deadly storm could have its sights set on the island's prime beaches.

Meteorologists in Havana could not yet pinpoint where Ivan will make landfall late Sunday, but forecasts from the National Hurricane Center in Miami had the storm tracking through Matanzas province, where white sand beaches are dotted with Cuba's largest resorts, a key component of Cuba's economic recovery.

If Ivan follows this course it could be a serious economic blow in the tourist town of Varadero just two months from the high winter season.

Tourism is Cuba's second-largest money earner after cash remittances sent from Cubans abroad.

Recently, Cuba's energy woes have been partially alleviated by onshore deposits near Varadero that generate enough oil and gas to generate most of the island's electrical power.

"If there is damage in the Varadero area that could have a substantial impact because these hotels are generally in need of maintenance anyway," said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

Tourism generates about $1.9 billion in direct and indirect revenues annually, but only about 10 to 15 percent of that comes to the island in profits, Kavulich said.

The London-based market research group Economist Intelligence Unit has predicted Cuba's economy will grow by about 3 percent this year, up from 2.3 percent last year and less than 2 percent growth in 2002.

On Friday, employees in hotels and resorts across Varadero were busy taping up windows, pruning trees and moving patio furniture. At the Varadero airport, 86 miles east of Havana, at least a dozen empty flights arrived, mostly from Toronto, to evacuate tourists. An airport official said more evacuations were likely today. The airport will be closed on Sunday.

Tourism worker Milagros Diaz said she was helping to accommodate guests who would sit out the hurricane at 70-year-old beachfront hotel on Cuba's only golf course.

"The bricks of the building are seven inches thick," Diaz said. "We are worried about the damages, which could hurt the economy. The important thing is to get ahead."

Copyright © 2004