Travel Agent spoke to some specialists about travel to Mexico after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) downgraded its initial travel warning recommended against non-essential travel to Mexico, in effect since April 27, to a travel precaution.
“Naturally, I am relieved that the situation has improved, it's a shame that it took this long,” says Ben Gritzewsky of Frosch Vacations in Houston. “Unfortunately, there will not be as much media attention on the return to sanity, or the fact that the flu ‘crisis’ destroyed countless vacations, not to mention the damage caused to the lives and livelihoods of millions of tourism professionals in Mexico and around the world.”
The CDC has been monitoring the ongoing outbreak of novel H1N1 flu in Mexico and, with the assistance of the Mexican authorities, has obtained a more complete picture of the outbreak
“Our clients are feeling like everyone went a little overboard also, so I think Mexico travel will return quickly,” say Marianne Braly of Now Voyager Travel in Huntington Beach, CA. “Not quickly enough for all the hotels and resorts that have suffered though.”
The bigger question, however, is now that this appears to be dying down, how does Mexico prevent another public relations disaster from spiraling out of control again?
“Very concerning is the question of people's reactions the next time something unusual occurs,” says Gritzewsky. “Will there be another pandemic of hype and hysteria? Or will things be seen in perspective; risks and benefits considered? Hopefully, we will neither be paralyzed by fear, nor stupefied to the point of ignoring real threats, like in the story of the boy who cried wolf.”