The Thanksgiving holiday season begins in earnest today in the United States, where Turkey Day might just be a travel turkey again this year.
Why? Let us count the ways.
1. Crowds. No way to avoid them. Along with Christmas and maybe Fourth of July weekend, this is the busiest leisure travel window of the year in the U.S. Expect crowded airports, long lines at security and everything that goes with that.
2. Crowded planes. The airlines have been cutting back service, flying fewer routes and using smaller planes, since Sept. 11, 2001, and aviation downsizing has continued apace since the start of the Great Recession in 2008.
3. Jammed overhead luggage bins. Smaller planes, combined with a three-year trend for U.S. carriers to charge extra fees for checked bags - Southwest Airlines is a notable exception - means passengers try to carry it all on, quickly filling the limited storage space in the smaller planes. As passengers struggle with luggage, it takes more time to board the plane, creating additional frustration.
4. High costs. Orbitz Worldwide Inc. reports that the average round trip air fare in the U.S. from today through Sunday, 28 November, has risen 11 percent to $373 USD from Thanksgiving last year. For road warriors, gasoline is also up and there will be crowded highways; the American Automobile Association forecasts 4 percent more people will drive to Grandma's place this Thanksgiving than last. Think it gets better at hotels? Nah. According to TravelClick Inc., the average nightly rate for U.S. hotels is 5 percent higher than last year at this time, at $126.35 per night.
What can be done about all this? Not a lot, but you can make incremental improvements, using loyalty points, paying extra for flying premium economy class and trading that SUV for a vehicle that sips, rather than chugs, fuel.
Short of that, well, just perservere. Getting there will not be half the fun, but when the turkey reaches the table at Grandma's, it'll be alright. Hey, it's still Thanksgiving.
Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hotels. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Can't Get No Satisfaction
It's not exactly a Stop the Presses moment, but a new survey of American consumers shows that U.S. commercial airlines are among the least-liked businesses in the United States. Business travelers, who spend a lot of time in the sky - and often have to pay high walk-up fares to go with added fees that airlines have tacked on to try to make a profit in a time of sky-high jet fuel - are especially disgruntled.
Every year, the American Customer Satisfaction Index records the results of a survey of selected U.S. consumers, and every year the section on air travel makes melancholy reading. Only 65 percent of fliers describe themselves as very satisfied or fairly satisfied.
Southwest Airlines, the perennial leader, ranks highest for the 18th consecutive year. It may not be entirely coincidental that Southwest is the major holdout in not charging fees for checked bags - a pet peeve of passengers. Continental Airlines, which merged with United Airlines - also known as Misery Air among regulars - saw its customer satisfaction score drop 10 points from last year.
Any good news? Yes. Most U.S. travelers are satisfied with U.S. hotels, giving the indstry as a whole a respectable score of 77 points.
Every year, the American Customer Satisfaction Index records the results of a survey of selected U.S. consumers, and every year the section on air travel makes melancholy reading. Only 65 percent of fliers describe themselves as very satisfied or fairly satisfied.
Southwest Airlines, the perennial leader, ranks highest for the 18th consecutive year. It may not be entirely coincidental that Southwest is the major holdout in not charging fees for checked bags - a pet peeve of passengers. Continental Airlines, which merged with United Airlines - also known as Misery Air among regulars - saw its customer satisfaction score drop 10 points from last year.
Any good news? Yes. Most U.S. travelers are satisfied with U.S. hotels, giving the indstry as a whole a respectable score of 77 points.
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai - Reborn
Now, here's some good news: The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai - probably India's most famous hotel - has been reborn. On Sunday, Aug. 15, India's Independence Day, the hotel's gorgeous 1903 original wing, will officially reopen - 21 months after it was seriously damaged in a savage attack on the city by terrorists - Islamist irregulars - from Pakistan.
I was scheduled to stay in the hotel, and like millions around the world, looked on from afar in stunned disbelief at the three days of horror at the Taj, the Oberoi Hotel, the main rail station, a cafe and a Jewish community center in November 2008. In November 2009, I stayed in the modern tower wing of the hotel; the palace wing was still being worked on.
Even with limited access, it was apparent that the hotel was beautiful - and would be beautiful again. The main staircase, a grand entryway, gave evidence of that. Security was everywhere - understandably so, as it must be - but the mood was unfailingly polite. That staff and guests could be civil and secure under such threat is more impressive than any physical plant.
For all that, the restored 1903 wing is a gem. The pricetag for the Taj's restoration and renovation - guest rooms and suites, the famous Sea Lounge, ballrooms and even the hallways, have been redone - has not been released. But world-class designers from places as far-flung as Malaysia, Spain and Italy were brought to India's maximum metropolis to do the work.
The managing director and chief executive officer of Taj Hotels, Raymond Bickson, noted at a pre-opening press conference: "Today, we have fulfilled our promise of rebuilding the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai to its former glory. The palace wing has been lovingly and painstakingly restored, and we will now offer our guests an even more customized experience.''
To mark its rebirth, the hotel is offering a Timeless Celebration offer - stay two nights, get one night free - in luxury grande rooms of the palace wing, and a Suite Celebrations offer - stay one night, get one night free - in a restored suite. Many perqs are included in the deals - not least, views of the Arabian Sea and the majestic Gateway of India monument. Details are posted at http://www.tajhotels.com/.
Here's a warm welcome back to one of the world's great hotels.
I was scheduled to stay in the hotel, and like millions around the world, looked on from afar in stunned disbelief at the three days of horror at the Taj, the Oberoi Hotel, the main rail station, a cafe and a Jewish community center in November 2008. In November 2009, I stayed in the modern tower wing of the hotel; the palace wing was still being worked on.
Even with limited access, it was apparent that the hotel was beautiful - and would be beautiful again. The main staircase, a grand entryway, gave evidence of that. Security was everywhere - understandably so, as it must be - but the mood was unfailingly polite. That staff and guests could be civil and secure under such threat is more impressive than any physical plant.
For all that, the restored 1903 wing is a gem. The pricetag for the Taj's restoration and renovation - guest rooms and suites, the famous Sea Lounge, ballrooms and even the hallways, have been redone - has not been released. But world-class designers from places as far-flung as Malaysia, Spain and Italy were brought to India's maximum metropolis to do the work.
The managing director and chief executive officer of Taj Hotels, Raymond Bickson, noted at a pre-opening press conference: "Today, we have fulfilled our promise of rebuilding the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai to its former glory. The palace wing has been lovingly and painstakingly restored, and we will now offer our guests an even more customized experience.''
To mark its rebirth, the hotel is offering a Timeless Celebration offer - stay two nights, get one night free - in luxury grande rooms of the palace wing, and a Suite Celebrations offer - stay one night, get one night free - in a restored suite. Many perqs are included in the deals - not least, views of the Arabian Sea and the majestic Gateway of India monument. Details are posted at http://www.tajhotels.com/.
Here's a warm welcome back to one of the world's great hotels.
Friday, July 2, 2010
That Herbert Hoover Feeling
The news comes these days in twos, with good news on one hand and bad news on the other - and major implications for travelers and the travel industry.
Consider:
The American Automobile Association predicts that 34.9 million Americans will take a car trip at least 50 miles from home over this U.S. Fourth of July holiday weekend. That's a leap of 17.1 percent from the 29.8 million who took car trips over the same holiday last year.
The International Air Transport Association, the airline trade group based in Geneva and Montreal, reports that passenger traffic on the world's airlines jumped 11.7 percent this May from May 2009, while air cargo shipments soared 34.3 percent over May 2009. IATA also forecasts a profit of $2.5 billion USD for global airlines this year, a big upgrade from the $9.9 billion USD loss the airlines suffered in 2009.
Just as this welcome news arrives, however, the larger economy in the U.S. and Europe seems to be grinding to a halt, if not sliding backward. A tepid U.S. jobs report yesterday depressed markets, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average back below 10,000 - down 5 percent for the week in the steepest drop since the near-depression in October 2008. Moreover, U.S. consumer confidence, as determined by New York research firm the Conference Board, plummeted to 52.9 percent in June from 62.7 percent in May, driven by concern over a lack of jobs and Congress cutting off benefits to the long-term unemployed.
"Economists pay close attention to measures of consumer confidence as a proxy for consumer spending, which drives the bulk of the U.S. economy,'' explained a June 29 report on CNNMoney.com.
There's more: The New York Times's Web site, nytimes.com, today stacked no fewer than six stories on the home page tracking economic slowdown and decline.
Times columnist Paul Krugman, a Noble Prize-winning economist, took it a big step further:
"We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression,'' he wrote, referring to the Great Depression of the 1930s and a long depression in the U.S. after the Panic of 1873.
"And this third deprssion will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world ... governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending. ... Both the United States and Europe are well on their way toward Japan-style deflationary traps.''
Reading these signs and portents is enough to induce a sinking feeling - that Herbert Hoover feeling, to be exact.
Hoover, of course, was the U.S. President who presided over the Wall Street crash of 1929 and whose policies only made matters worse. Things improved under his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, but then Roosevelt slowed stimulus spending in 1938, leading to relapse in an economy not yet recovered from the collapse of 1929-31. We all know what happened next: World War II. If that tragedy hadn't occurred, we might still be in the Great Depression, for it was only wartime spending that ended the depression - at huge human cost.
What does all this macro-economic stuff and political history mean for travel? Plenty.
For one thing, even the good travel news contains signs that not all is actually well.
Giovanni Bisignani, the outspoken IATA director-general, said of the rise in the civil aviation business, "This is good news, but it is only a 0.5 percent margin. We are still a long way from sustainable profitability.''
Even the seemingly buoyant AAA forecast is not as encouraging as it looks at first glance. More U.S. motorists will hit the road this holiday weekend, but they are expected to spend less: a median spend of $644 USD this year, down from a median of $693 last year. Motorists seem drawn to the highway partly by the lure of relatively cheap gasoline (a U.S. average of $2.70-$2.80 per gallon) and because they don't want to spend money for airfares, which are up 13 percent in the U.S. from last year. They are not in an expansive, let's-spend-it mood.
If international economies stop recovering or even contract, travel will be among the first to feel it. Fewer people will travel. Those who do will spend less. Already stressed hotels, cruise ship lines and airlines will cut capacity, have to cut their rates and lay off staff. By some measures, tourism is the world's leading industry by production of revenue, and most travel-industry employees are working-class people - many of them living in developing countries - who will quickly fall on hard times if we really are in a third depression.
Sorry for the gloomy, foreboding tone of this post. But the first step toard dealing effectively with crisis is to see it for what it is.
Consider:
The American Automobile Association predicts that 34.9 million Americans will take a car trip at least 50 miles from home over this U.S. Fourth of July holiday weekend. That's a leap of 17.1 percent from the 29.8 million who took car trips over the same holiday last year.
The International Air Transport Association, the airline trade group based in Geneva and Montreal, reports that passenger traffic on the world's airlines jumped 11.7 percent this May from May 2009, while air cargo shipments soared 34.3 percent over May 2009. IATA also forecasts a profit of $2.5 billion USD for global airlines this year, a big upgrade from the $9.9 billion USD loss the airlines suffered in 2009.
Just as this welcome news arrives, however, the larger economy in the U.S. and Europe seems to be grinding to a halt, if not sliding backward. A tepid U.S. jobs report yesterday depressed markets, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average back below 10,000 - down 5 percent for the week in the steepest drop since the near-depression in October 2008. Moreover, U.S. consumer confidence, as determined by New York research firm the Conference Board, plummeted to 52.9 percent in June from 62.7 percent in May, driven by concern over a lack of jobs and Congress cutting off benefits to the long-term unemployed.
"Economists pay close attention to measures of consumer confidence as a proxy for consumer spending, which drives the bulk of the U.S. economy,'' explained a June 29 report on CNNMoney.com.
There's more: The New York Times's Web site, nytimes.com, today stacked no fewer than six stories on the home page tracking economic slowdown and decline.
Times columnist Paul Krugman, a Noble Prize-winning economist, took it a big step further:
"We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression,'' he wrote, referring to the Great Depression of the 1930s and a long depression in the U.S. after the Panic of 1873.
"And this third deprssion will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world ... governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending. ... Both the United States and Europe are well on their way toward Japan-style deflationary traps.''
Reading these signs and portents is enough to induce a sinking feeling - that Herbert Hoover feeling, to be exact.
Hoover, of course, was the U.S. President who presided over the Wall Street crash of 1929 and whose policies only made matters worse. Things improved under his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, but then Roosevelt slowed stimulus spending in 1938, leading to relapse in an economy not yet recovered from the collapse of 1929-31. We all know what happened next: World War II. If that tragedy hadn't occurred, we might still be in the Great Depression, for it was only wartime spending that ended the depression - at huge human cost.
What does all this macro-economic stuff and political history mean for travel? Plenty.
For one thing, even the good travel news contains signs that not all is actually well.
Giovanni Bisignani, the outspoken IATA director-general, said of the rise in the civil aviation business, "This is good news, but it is only a 0.5 percent margin. We are still a long way from sustainable profitability.''
Even the seemingly buoyant AAA forecast is not as encouraging as it looks at first glance. More U.S. motorists will hit the road this holiday weekend, but they are expected to spend less: a median spend of $644 USD this year, down from a median of $693 last year. Motorists seem drawn to the highway partly by the lure of relatively cheap gasoline (a U.S. average of $2.70-$2.80 per gallon) and because they don't want to spend money for airfares, which are up 13 percent in the U.S. from last year. They are not in an expansive, let's-spend-it mood.
If international economies stop recovering or even contract, travel will be among the first to feel it. Fewer people will travel. Those who do will spend less. Already stressed hotels, cruise ship lines and airlines will cut capacity, have to cut their rates and lay off staff. By some measures, tourism is the world's leading industry by production of revenue, and most travel-industry employees are working-class people - many of them living in developing countries - who will quickly fall on hard times if we really are in a third depression.
Sorry for the gloomy, foreboding tone of this post. But the first step toard dealing effectively with crisis is to see it for what it is.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Chilling at the Kahala
HONOLULU - We had been working too hard, my wife and I, especially her. So, she suggested we chill out at the Kahala Hotel and Resort, at the ocean's edge on the far side of Diamondhead from busy, busy Waikiki Beach. It's the perfect place to chill out, she said. Who am I to argue? We went. All I can say is mahalo to that. She was right.
Opened in 1964 by Conrad Hilton, himself, this favored reboubt of celebrities was the Kahala Hilton for years. Then it became a Mandarin Oriental. A few years back, it became just the Kahala, managed by Landmark Hotels Inc. and financed by Hawaii investors who poured $52 million into a renovation that is just now receiving the finishing touches. (http://www.kahalaresort.com/). All 306 guest rooms were freshened during the re-do, the number of spa rooms were doubled to 10 and colors in hallways, guest rooms and the hotel's gorgeous carpets were lightened up. One thing that didn't change is the Kahala's signature chandeliers, which have adorned the main lobby and expansive adjoining spaces since the 1964 opening. Another is the hotel's popularity with guests who are excitedly tying the knot; we glimpsed half a dozen on-site weddings in the eight days we were at the hotel.
Beautiful it is, with serene, soft colors and a minimum of Island kitsch. Restful it is, with the sound of the trade winds and the sight of tall, thin palm trees bending in the wind, big breakers rolling offshore beyond the reef, and waves gently lapping at the wide, white-sand beach. And educational it is, with a newish 'dolphin encounter' for children and adults that allows you to slip into the hotel's private, enclosed dolphin lagoon, swim right up to one of a half dozen playful bottlenose dolphins, touch them a little and reward them with a fish snack.
Even the resort's more touristy touches are fun; it has a wall of fame in an otherwise workaday hallway near the business center (open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with two PCs for guests to use), featuring framed, wall-mounted photos of famous people who have stayed in the hotel. They include, among many others, Richard Nixon, lei-bedecked and in a business suit, Elton John, Snoop Dog and former Hawaii guy Barack Obama when he was still a U.S. Senator.
Even the food is good - very good. It ranges from a plentiful and high-quality breakfast buffet in the ground-floor restaurant Plumeria, to a casual, on-the-beach lunch place called Seaside Grill for the flip-flops and Aloha shirt set, to Tokyo Tokyo for fresh Japanese fare, to the more formal, fine-dining restaurant Hoku's, one of the best dining destinations on Oahu. We took a number of meals around the hotel and were not disappointed. As with most any hotel, you can eat in your room, too, though we spent most of our wakeful time sitting on our lanai (balcony), reading or gazing out at the clear, aquamarine Pacific waters. You can sink right into the big beds and not want to get up, but then you don't want to miss Hawaii, after all.
As you might guess, this luxury does not come cheap. Even at the Kahala, though, you can save money by taking advantage of special deals. The Kahala still won't be a steal but it will slide into range for more travelers. The hotel is offering a fourth night free with a minimum four-night stay with partial ocean views from $395 through October (rates climb after that), including complimentary breakfast for two, as part of its 'ocean promotion' package. It also offers a fifth night free with a minimum five-night stay as part of its 'Kahala family values' promotion; this deal, from $515 a night per room, allows families to occupy connecting rooms and includes two kids' activities. My wife found slightly cheaper rates at Expedia.com than on the hotel's own site. But be advised if you're thinking about going, that such sale rooms go fast and not all rooms in the hotel are on sale.
In sum, it's pricey but special, and if you can meet the tariffs, the Kahala is a wonderful, restful, romantic place to calm down, chill out and rest up.
Opened in 1964 by Conrad Hilton, himself, this favored reboubt of celebrities was the Kahala Hilton for years. Then it became a Mandarin Oriental. A few years back, it became just the Kahala, managed by Landmark Hotels Inc. and financed by Hawaii investors who poured $52 million into a renovation that is just now receiving the finishing touches. (http://www.kahalaresort.com/). All 306 guest rooms were freshened during the re-do, the number of spa rooms were doubled to 10 and colors in hallways, guest rooms and the hotel's gorgeous carpets were lightened up. One thing that didn't change is the Kahala's signature chandeliers, which have adorned the main lobby and expansive adjoining spaces since the 1964 opening. Another is the hotel's popularity with guests who are excitedly tying the knot; we glimpsed half a dozen on-site weddings in the eight days we were at the hotel.
Beautiful it is, with serene, soft colors and a minimum of Island kitsch. Restful it is, with the sound of the trade winds and the sight of tall, thin palm trees bending in the wind, big breakers rolling offshore beyond the reef, and waves gently lapping at the wide, white-sand beach. And educational it is, with a newish 'dolphin encounter' for children and adults that allows you to slip into the hotel's private, enclosed dolphin lagoon, swim right up to one of a half dozen playful bottlenose dolphins, touch them a little and reward them with a fish snack.
Even the resort's more touristy touches are fun; it has a wall of fame in an otherwise workaday hallway near the business center (open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with two PCs for guests to use), featuring framed, wall-mounted photos of famous people who have stayed in the hotel. They include, among many others, Richard Nixon, lei-bedecked and in a business suit, Elton John, Snoop Dog and former Hawaii guy Barack Obama when he was still a U.S. Senator.
Even the food is good - very good. It ranges from a plentiful and high-quality breakfast buffet in the ground-floor restaurant Plumeria, to a casual, on-the-beach lunch place called Seaside Grill for the flip-flops and Aloha shirt set, to Tokyo Tokyo for fresh Japanese fare, to the more formal, fine-dining restaurant Hoku's, one of the best dining destinations on Oahu. We took a number of meals around the hotel and were not disappointed. As with most any hotel, you can eat in your room, too, though we spent most of our wakeful time sitting on our lanai (balcony), reading or gazing out at the clear, aquamarine Pacific waters. You can sink right into the big beds and not want to get up, but then you don't want to miss Hawaii, after all.
As you might guess, this luxury does not come cheap. Even at the Kahala, though, you can save money by taking advantage of special deals. The Kahala still won't be a steal but it will slide into range for more travelers. The hotel is offering a fourth night free with a minimum four-night stay with partial ocean views from $395 through October (rates climb after that), including complimentary breakfast for two, as part of its 'ocean promotion' package. It also offers a fifth night free with a minimum five-night stay as part of its 'Kahala family values' promotion; this deal, from $515 a night per room, allows families to occupy connecting rooms and includes two kids' activities. My wife found slightly cheaper rates at Expedia.com than on the hotel's own site. But be advised if you're thinking about going, that such sale rooms go fast and not all rooms in the hotel are on sale.
In sum, it's pricey but special, and if you can meet the tariffs, the Kahala is a wonderful, restful, romantic place to calm down, chill out and rest up.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Pandemics of Panic?
The swine flu - er, Influenza A H1N1 - seems to be stabilizing following the initial outbreak in Mexico that sent scary images of people donning face masks and reports of school shutdowns and business closures shooting around the world. What at first appeared like a possible pandemic now seems more likely to be a dress rehearsal - and a wake-up call for public officials, journalists and travelers.
The flu certainly got the travel industry's attention, and as a travel journalist, I can see why. It hit travel at a delicate time, just as the travel biz was already struggling with the global economic crisis. Airlines already burdened by falling consumer demand in the Great Recession slashed the number of flights to Mexico. Some cruise-ship lines aren't even calling at Mexican seaports, preferring to err on the side of safety, till the all-clear finally and definitively sounds. In China, there was an overreaction, as Chinese officials interred Mexican travelers, to show how tough they could be - on others - after dragging their feet with SARS and avian flu a few years back. In Hong Kong, officials quarantined a major hotel for a week, following one confirmed H1N1 case.
Hindsight is always easy, of course. But even in the early days, back in late March and April, the flu outbreak seemed to me to be generating more fear of illness than actual illness. I thought: Why disrupt the routine operation of business, and throw the multi-billion-dollar travel world into turmoil for what even then appeared to be a disease only marginally more serious than seasonal flu? I think it, still.
Consider the numbers: Some 500,000 people worldwide die from influenza every year, according to the World Health Organization. Two months after the H1N1 flu was first reported, about 8800 cases have been recorded and 74 deaths attributed to the illness. I don't mean to make light of this; any illness is unpleasant and any premature death tragic. But seen in context, this is a minor spike in disease.
Of course, this flu could still have a resurgence. Absent that, lessons from this outbreak are clear: We should all take prudent steps to prevent contagion, on the road and at home, and we should not panic. Political leaders should stick to the facts and not posture or take ill-advised decisions to cover their backs.
Travelers should use common sense and follow the guidelines posted by tourism authorities, airlines, tour operators and industry groups such as the International Air Transport Association (www.iata.org) and the U.S. Air Transport Association (www.airlines.org), and health authorities such as the WHO (www.who.int) and America's Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov). Broadly, that comes down to washing your hands, keeping your hands away from your face, using hand-wipes on planes and in airports and not traveling at all if you are sick. Do these simple things, and the risk of transmission will be reduced.
Tourism in Mexico - which accounts for about 8 percent of that country's economy, according to the New York Times - will come back. Huge hotel discounts (think 50 percent and more) and government subsidies to Mexican airlines and airports will help. But some of this could have been avoided. Thanks to the worldwide system of disease reporting and the 24/7 news cycle, speed can easily outstrip judgment; at its worst, this can produce pandemics of panic.
Next time, we need to keep all this in mind.
You can find more thoughts on travel and my recently published articles on my Web site, www.wishyouweretravel.net.
The flu certainly got the travel industry's attention, and as a travel journalist, I can see why. It hit travel at a delicate time, just as the travel biz was already struggling with the global economic crisis. Airlines already burdened by falling consumer demand in the Great Recession slashed the number of flights to Mexico. Some cruise-ship lines aren't even calling at Mexican seaports, preferring to err on the side of safety, till the all-clear finally and definitively sounds. In China, there was an overreaction, as Chinese officials interred Mexican travelers, to show how tough they could be - on others - after dragging their feet with SARS and avian flu a few years back. In Hong Kong, officials quarantined a major hotel for a week, following one confirmed H1N1 case.
Hindsight is always easy, of course. But even in the early days, back in late March and April, the flu outbreak seemed to me to be generating more fear of illness than actual illness. I thought: Why disrupt the routine operation of business, and throw the multi-billion-dollar travel world into turmoil for what even then appeared to be a disease only marginally more serious than seasonal flu? I think it, still.
Consider the numbers: Some 500,000 people worldwide die from influenza every year, according to the World Health Organization. Two months after the H1N1 flu was first reported, about 8800 cases have been recorded and 74 deaths attributed to the illness. I don't mean to make light of this; any illness is unpleasant and any premature death tragic. But seen in context, this is a minor spike in disease.
Of course, this flu could still have a resurgence. Absent that, lessons from this outbreak are clear: We should all take prudent steps to prevent contagion, on the road and at home, and we should not panic. Political leaders should stick to the facts and not posture or take ill-advised decisions to cover their backs.
Travelers should use common sense and follow the guidelines posted by tourism authorities, airlines, tour operators and industry groups such as the International Air Transport Association (www.iata.org) and the U.S. Air Transport Association (www.airlines.org), and health authorities such as the WHO (www.who.int) and America's Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov). Broadly, that comes down to washing your hands, keeping your hands away from your face, using hand-wipes on planes and in airports and not traveling at all if you are sick. Do these simple things, and the risk of transmission will be reduced.
Tourism in Mexico - which accounts for about 8 percent of that country's economy, according to the New York Times - will come back. Huge hotel discounts (think 50 percent and more) and government subsidies to Mexican airlines and airports will help. But some of this could have been avoided. Thanks to the worldwide system of disease reporting and the 24/7 news cycle, speed can easily outstrip judgment; at its worst, this can produce pandemics of panic.
Next time, we need to keep all this in mind.
You can find more thoughts on travel and my recently published articles on my Web site, www.wishyouweretravel.net.
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