History of Martinique survivors were a shoemaker and a prisoner who was saved by his position in a jail dungeon with only a single window. Because Saint Pierre was the commercial capital of the island, there were four banks in the city—the Banque de la Martinique, Banque Transatlantique, a branch of the Colonial Bank of London, and the Crédit Foncier Colonial. All were destroyed. The town had to be completely rebuilt and lost its status as the commercial capital, a title which shifted to Fort-de-France. Due to the eruption, refugees from Martinique arrived in boats to the southern villages of Dominica and some
Tourism in the Caribbean weeks or months at a time. The Caribbean islands were colonies of European countries, and early tourists went to their nation's colonies. Barbados and Jamaica were visited by the English, Curaçao by the Dutch, and Martinique by the French. American tourists traveled to The Bahamas and Cuba. In the 1920s, tourists visited the Caribbean for pleasurable, sun-bathing vacations. Sun exposure was considered healthy at that time and tans were a symbol of "spontaneity and sensuality" among the wealthy. Before World War II, more than 100,000 tourists visited the region a year. Tourism became an economically important industry as Caribbean bananas,