Will Swine Flu Make You Stay Home? : Kathika Travel Website

The last few weeks has seen the headlines full of information and warnings about the growing outbreak of swine flu, and the illness is now starting to have some more major impact on travel plans around the world. With current estimates putting the number of cases at over 17,000, and predictions that the influenza is likely to spread to every country on earth, then travel plans are only going to be more disrupted over the coming months. Some of the swine flu stories affecting travel so far include:

US Students In China Get Banned From Sightseeing

A very unlucky group of US students who traveled to China last week and expected to tour around the province of Guizhou have had a rather boring trip instead. They were on the same flight from San Francisco as a passenger who fell ill with a fever and was suspected of having swine flu, so the students were quarantined in their hotel for the week – despite the fact that this passenger ended up testing negative to the virus.

Cruise Ship Infection Scare Down Under

In Australia, the Pacific Dawn cruise ship has had to make some drastic changes to its cruising plan after a number of crew members tested positive for swine flu. Instead of cruising up to the Great Barrier Reef, passengers who are residents of Queensland were ordered to disembark in Brisbane, while all the other passengers will be taken to Sydney over the weekend. All of the passengers are being ordered to quarantine themselves for one week in case they develop symptoms – so a lot of vacations have been cut short and arrangements cancelled.

Mexico Tries to Halt Tourism Downturn

In Mexico, the country where swine flu was initially diagnosed, and where there have been almost a hundred deaths, the economy is suffering badly from the effects of the flu, and obviously one major cause of this is a downturn in tourist entries to the country. Already, Mexico has started a campaign called Vive Mexico – Long Live Mexico – a $90 million campaign to revive the interest of tourists in the country.

Czech Poll Shows Many Will Stop Traveling

A recent poll in the Czech Republic might be indicative of the feelings of people in many places. Although the Czech Republic has only one reported case of swine flu so far, a Prague Daily Monitor survey showed that 40% of people think they will stop plans or cancel travel to non-European countries, a third would not travel abroad at all, and a third would not even travel outside of their home town.
photo credit: Esparta