ASIA PACIFIC. The travel market is facing another potentially devastating crisis as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which is allegedly spread by air travel, continues to spread across several countries in the region.
The disease has killed 54 people worldwide and infected more than 1,400 others, causing widespread panic and an atmosphere in locations such as Hong Kong which the Wall Street Journal described as “reminiscent of the polio scare in the US in the 1950s and the anthrax scare 18 months ago, in which a relatively small number of incidents leave an entire region on edge.”
For a constantly updated summary on how the SARS virus is affecting travel markets around the world and travel retailers, see our feature “SARS virus – fear strikes Asia travel market” on the home page.
Hong Kong – which has seen 11 deaths from SARS – has announced mass quarantines and closed schools for a week. Taiwan has declared a full medical alert and in Singapore, where schools were also closed, the number of cases increased by four to 78. The Singapore government has ordered 861 people suspected of being exposed to be put into quarantine and has closed all schools right up to junior college level. Vietnam has also been severely affected as has Canada, where the disease is believed to have spread from a Chinese flight. Worryingly, China, the region’s boom inbound and outbound travel market, this week announced it had incurred twice as many cases and deaths than previously reported. China says 792 people have been affected and 19 have died.
Already the tourism industry is suffering and Hong Kong International airport traffic is reported to be down 20%, as SARS fears add to the Iraq war effect. The Rolling Stones cancelled an appearance because of the virus and several rugby teams have pulled out of the world famous Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament this weekend.
Singapore Airlines said it won’t rule out cutting flights to destinations affected by the illness, adding that travellers are cancelling trips out of fear they may contract the disease.
Asian carriers were among the heaviest stock market losers yesterday, with China Southern Airlines down -7.1%, Cathay Pacific falling -4.6%, Qantas dropping -4.3% and Singapore Airlines down -3.1%.
The latest news will be of concern to organisers of travel retail events in China and Singapore in May, who will be monitoring developments closely. Several beauty houses have already responded to the SARS fears by advising their staff not to travel to Asia in the next two months.
Will the events go ahead? TFWA chief executive Andrew Ford emphasised to The Moodie Report that there was no need for panic and said the Association’s next management committee on April 11 would review the situation following constant monitoring until then. An announcement to that effect is expected tomorrow. Organisers behind the China Travel Retail Summit to be held in Shanghai on May 14-15 are evaluating developments on a daily basis and are expected to issue a statement mid-week.
Comment: This whole affair underlines just how jumpy and easily panicked the world has become. While some of the media coverage has been alarmist, there is no doubt that this is a serious issue with major repercussions for our business. When we first unveiled this latest threat to the travel retail industry (The Moodie Report 16 March), we said it was the last thing the business needed on top of a range of other blows, including the Iraq war, the North Korean crisis and the state of the global economy. It seems likely to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.
