Tourists lose their fear of the flu

      Travel firms say clients are no longer cancelling travel abroad for fear of the H1N1 pandemic. The number of outbound tourists is gradually returning to normal. However, travel firms remain wary of the pandemic’s progress, preparing for the worst that may come.
Though it has spread rapidly, the A/H1N1 flu pandemic has turned out not to be a grave threat to people’s lives like the SARS virus. After some initial panic, Vietnamese travellers have calmed down. Travel firms say that no cases of returned tourists infected with H1N1 have been reported. Outbound tours have been ‘reviving’.
Departing more regularly
At Vietravel, the number of tourists to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia has increased by 15 percent over the same period of 2008. There is growth again in the Japan and South Korea markets again after a period of interruption. However, inbound travel by Japanese tourists remains at ‘medium level’, while tourist arrivals from the US and North America this season are only 80 percent of the 2008 level.
Hanoi Redtour reports that its outbound tours have been departing more regularly since May. The travel firm had to cancel some tours to the UK, Spain, Portugal and North America and delay the departure of some tours to North America. However, the tours have been resumed since early July.
According to Fiditour, it canceled only one tour, a group of 20 persons who had planned to visit Mexico in May 2009. The travel firm expects to serve 35,000 travellers to locations inside and outside Vietnam this summer, an increase of 25 percent over the same period of the last year.
Though flu outbreaks have been spreading rapidly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has not recommended special travel precautions. Moreover, as most of big travel firms have purchased insurance policies against flu, travelers now feel more secure
Hoang, just back from Singapore, said that he was happy with his tour. “The only thing I worried about was that we might run out of money. There was no need to worry about the flu,” he said. “As far as I know, the H1N1 patients in Vietnam all have well recovered”.
One should not be too optimistic
Though travelers do not seem to fear the flu virus any more, travel firms remain cautious. Nguyen Cong Hoan, a Redtour deputy director, says the biggest worry is that the pandemic may worsen (the death toll may increase, or virus may become resistant to medicine). In that case, the number of tourists will decrease dramatically
At Vietravel, Communication Division head Nguyen Minh Man said that what travelers fear most is that they will be detained in foreign countries on suspicion of having the H1N1 virus, completely upsetting plans. Man said that this will not happen if travelers take antiseptic measures. When they come home, they should stay clear of family members for a while.
“In the unlucky event that the borders are closed to prevent from the spread of the flu virus, travel firms will have no choice but to suspend service and sacrifice their profit,” said Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, Communications Director of Fiditour.
In fact, the number of outbound clients has dropped dramatically at some travel firms. Nguyen Tien Dat, Head of Business Division of TransViet, said that his volume has dropped by 30 percent. The South Korea market, for example, cannot attract travelers, despite the very attractive tour charges.
The coincidence of the H1N1 flu pandemic and, more importantly, the economic recession have reduced the number of international tourists to Vietnam. The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has said that Asian tourism outlook remains gloomy. The number of the travelers to Asia this year is expected to decrease by 4 percent. in the context of the continued economic difficulties. The greatest reductions in tourist arrivals will be in South Korea (40%), and Japan and Singapore (30%).
In Vietnam, according to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, the number of foreign visitors has dropped by 20 percent year-over-year. The number of travellers arriving by air is down 12%, with the most notable decreases seen in arrivals from China (39%), Korea (20%), Japan (10%) and Taiwan (17%) – leading to an occupancy rate in international flights of only 37%.