Epidemics and diseases may affect the tourism industry of the country on the significant level as any natural disaster does. An epidemic is an outbreak of a contractible disease that spreads at a rapid rate through a human population. A pandemic is an epidemic whose spread is global
In the last hundred years, significant pandemics include:
- The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, killing an estimated 50 million people worldwide
- The 1957-58 Asian flu pandemic, which killed an estimated 1 million people
- The 1968-69 Hong Kong flu pandemic
- The 2002-3 SARS pandemic
- The AIDS epidemic, beginning in 1959
- The H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) Pandemic 2009-10
Tourism is Mexico's biggest moneymaker after oil and remittances from abroad. The economy of the country is heavily dependent on revenue from foreigners. In 2009 the H1N1 Influenza ( also known as Swine Flu) Pandemic hit the country hard and, in turn, damaged Mexico's image abroad.
Cancun region relies on tourism like no other place in Mexico. There are about 150 hotels in Cancun with more than 24,000 rooms and 380 restaurants. Four million visitors arrive each year in an average of 190 flights daily.
During first couple months after the Swine Flu was detected, the number of international tourists arriving in Cancun has dropped 82 percent and the number of tourists from other parts of Mexico is down 40 percent, according to Sara Latife Ruiz Chavez, secretary for tourism for the state of Quintana Roo, which includes Cancun and the beaches known as the Maya Riviera.
Swine flu coasted the region millions of dollars in lost revenue and has forced 22 hotels to temporarily suspend their operations. More than 10,000 waiters, cooks, maids and other hotel employees in Cancun furloughed from their jobs. Dive boat owners were going out just two or three customers.
"Terrible. Terrible. We're running 20 percent occupancy when we should be having 90 percent," said Monica Roberts, director of corporate operations for the Mexican-owned hotel chain Real Resorts.
The tourism industry in Mexico has been badly hit by swine flu, and not only are airlines and hotels suffering from cancelled trips but many other businesses associated with tourism are
also affected, and many public areas and attractions have been completely closed such as theatres, cinemas, museums and art galleries. UK travel brokers TUI Travel, Virgin Holidays and Thomas Cook have cancelled all of their flights and package holidays to Mexico during the peak of the outbreak, and several countries such as Argentina and Cuba have also suspended all flights from Mexico during this time.
Business travel is also a big earner for flight companies, hotels and associated businesses, and this has also been badly affected by the outbreak of swine flu. The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) published a survey regarding the impact of swine flu on business travel, finding that as much as 61% of business travellers are cancelling their trips to Mexico in response to the outbreak in the country
