Swine Flu hits travel industry

With the travel industry already being hit hard by the recession there was little more room for bad news for the industry that works on such low margins…Well the news came with the outbreak of Swine Flu in Mexico that has spread with number of confirmed cases in the UK and more in Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Israel and New Zealand on top of the 170 deaths in Mexico and 1 in the US.

Can the industry take another hit?

Well we have been in these positions before and we have made it out, I remember sitting in my old Business Travel employers office during the Foot and Mouth outbreak as well as 9/11 and we made it through that, then the SARS pandemic while I was at ebookers and not forgetting Avian Flu of a couple of years ago and here we are. Although I’m sure we will see some of the smaller operators and possibly agents struggle and possibly fail I think what we will see is Airlines, Tour Operators and Agencies coming out of this pandemic and recession stronger than before.

And the one thing I have seen is a push by clients moving key projects forward specially those that will drive efficiency and bring in revenue.

Chris Yea, Travel Specialist