Illness, war hurting Vietnam tourism
HANOI - The
deadly illness
gripping Asia the
past two months
has claimed
another victim:
Vietnam's tourism
industry.
With people scared
away by the
mysterious flulike
ailment, hotels are
losing bookings,
tours are canceling
and airlines are
flying fewer passengers.
On top of that, war in Iraq is making things worse for an industry
that in recent years had been enjoying unprecedented growth -- 13
percent last year alone.
In the days immediately after the emergence of severe acute
respiratory syndrome, or SARS, as the mysterious illness has been
dubbed, the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City lost more than 500
bookings as anxious travelers canceled their reservations.
In Hanoi, the Handspan travel agency has lost 20 percent of its
bookings this month, while Buffalo Tours has had to cancel 14 tours
after about 100 customers called off their trips. Most were worried
about the pneumonia-like illness that the World Health Organization
says has infected 1,376 people and killed 53 since Feb. 1, mostly in
Asia. Four of the deaths have occurred in Vietnam.
``We started receiving e-mails from customers saying they wanted
to cancel their tours,'' said Nguyen Phuong Nam, sales manager for
Buffalo Tours. ``They were worried about two things: the attack on
Iraq and the flu spreading in Hanoi.''
Vietnam's national tourism office, desperate to keep the good times
rolling, issued a statement late last week beseeching travelers not
to panic.
``Vietnam is still a safe destination for tourists,'' the statement
said. ``Visitors to Vietnam will be well taken care of and served
with high-quality products and services and safety.''
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta advised people to postpone non-essential travel to Hanoi,
Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province until further notice. The
World Health Organization issued a global travel advisory intended
to heighten awareness of the illness, whose symptoms include high
fever, cough, shortness of breath and difficult breathing.
In Hanoi, 60 people have been hospitalized and two have died as a
result of the illness, which was first recognized after an American
businessman traveling to Hanoi from China via Hong Kong fell ill and
later died. The Hanoi hospital where he was treated closed down
after more than 30 of its staff became afflicted with the illness, an
atypical pneumonia whose cause and cure remain under
investigation.
Cautious optimism
By the end of the week, the spread of the disease had been
slowing in Hanoi, and health officials expressed cautious optimism
about the prospect of containing it here.
Many travelers are not reassured.
``The illness is in the back of your mind and it takes away from the
experience a little,'' said Chris Weldon, 31, a San Franciscan visiting
Vietnam with his friend Duncan Carling, another Bay Area resident.
``Our parents are probably worried sick,'' said Carling, who was
recently laid off by a Foster City software firm. ``I told my mom we'd
probably be safer in Hanoi than we would be in the U.S., but that
was before I heard about the flu virus.''
Weldon and Carling knew about the virus before they left but
decided to come anyway. As they planned their trip, Carling said,
the United States was on the brink of attacking Iraq.
``If Vietnam were a Muslim country, maybe we wouldn't have
come,'' Carling said, adding that he bypassed Indonesia and
Malaysia because they seemed like potential targets for terrorists.
``I would not have visited a predominantly Muslim country on this
trip.''
Tourism in other Asian nations affected by the outbreak also is
suffering. Tourism officials in China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore,
Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere are reporting travel slowdowns.
Recent boom
But despite the recent one-two punch of illness and war, hoteliers,
travel agents and tourism officials are confident that the long-term
trajectory of Vietnam's tourism industry will continue sharply
upward.
The number of tourists discovering Vietnam -- which had been
isolated by years of war and economic blockades -- has risen
steadily in recent years. Last year, with the economy roaring and
business travelers also converging on the country, international
arrivals on Vietnam Airlines rose by 20 percent.
Visitors have been lured by a variety of factors: Vietnam is seen as
a new, undiscovered destination, it is relatively inexpensive and the
number of resort hotels has grown. And, with its predominantly
Buddhist population and a communist government, Vietnam seemed
a safe alternative to other countries in the region where the
terrorist threat posed by Muslim extremists could make even a
glorious sun-drenched beach seem ominous.
After Sept. 11 and the terrorist attacks in Bali in October, Vietnam
saw a surge in tourism as people sought a less threatening
Southeast Asian destination. The country has no known Muslim
extremist groups, and the security police in the fast-changing nation
keep close watch on the population.
Now, fear of flying is scaring away tourists.
Thursday, the WHO urged airlines flying out of a handful of cities hit
by SARS -- including Hanoi -- to question passengers at check-in
desks for signs of sickness and to bar anyone with flulike symptoms
from boarding.
With airline passengers now donning masks to prevent the spread
of SARS or staying away because of war, the industry knows it has
some tough times ahead. Still, some executives see a quick
recovery.
Immediate reaction
Stephen O'Grady, manager of the Caravelle Hotel, said the travel
industry is always subject to fluctuations because of world events.
He predicted that Vietnam would continue to draw increasing
numbers of visitors in the future.
``Whenever something like this happens, you get an immediate
reaction from the general international traveling public,'' O'Grady
said. ``They stop and assess what is happening in the world, and
then business returns to normal.''
For O'Grady, whose hotel caters to business travelers in a city
where the economy has been booming, normal has meant 100
percent occupancy on many weekdays. The same is true at other
upscale hotels in Ho Chi Minh City.
In Hanoi, many visitors said they wouldn't let their travel be
hemmed in by the threat of illness or war.
Sharon Goodman, 33, a native of Brisbane, Australia, who is visiting
Vietnam with her mother, came to Hanoi from Bangkok. As they
were about to board their flight, her father called to warn them
about the flu. ``You're not going there!'' he told her, but they
ignored his advice and came anyway.
``I have a lousy attitude about things like that,'' Goodman said of
SARS. ``I figure when your number's up, it's up.''
By Ben Stocking - The Mercury News - March 28, 2003.
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