The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Ministry of Tourism’s director-general said yesterday it was “too early to tell” whether there will be any significant “fall-out” for the industry from the recent Zika outbreak, adding that August had been “very strong” for visitor arrivals.

Speaking at a Ministry of Tourism Zika information session, Mrs Jibrilu said: “It is still too early to tell if the few recorded cases of Zika in New Providence have had, or will have, an impact on travel bookings to the Bahamas.

“August was very strong. We were above where we were last year in terms of our numbers. Certainly that is the base line. If you are falling below your projections, the next question would be why are people cancelling?

“If they make bookings and have cancelled, the questions is why? We are following the situation closely. Today, thankfully, we have seen no fallout. In fact, August was a strong month for the Bahamas year-on-year, surprisingly. People recognise that Zika is not just in New Providence but throughout the world.’

    Mrs Jibrilu said the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) issues three levels of travel alerts to places where there is an outbreak of a viral disease.

The first level  urges travellers to ‘practice usual precaution’ if travelling to an affected area. The second level urges travellers to ‘practice enhanced precaution’, and the third level warns travellers to avoid non-essential travel to affected areas.

Mrs Jibrilu said the CDC has issued a ‘level two’ travel alert for the Bahamas along with most of the Caribbean and Latin America.

“We cannot begin to contemplate Level 3,” said Mrs Jibrilu. “That would be the worst case scenario.” She added that the Ministry of Tourism has been involved in a robust public awareness campaign that has been extended to visitors to the Bahamas.

    The US and  Canada, this nation’s two largest tourism source markets, have both issued health and travel advisories on the Bahamas following confirmation of the Zika virus’s arrival on these shores.

Canada has warned pregnant women, and those planning on having children, to avoid travelling to the Bahamas.

Health warnings are a major deterrent to visitors/tourists travelling to the subject countries. Florida’s tourism-reliant economy has also been impacted by an outbreak of Zika, with Miami Beach among the areas affected. Businesses in locations identified as ‘zones’ where the virus is present, such as Wynwood in Miami, have complained about a reduction in commerce and visitor numbers as a result of health-related concerns.