The two-day event that will be inaugurated by the President of Mexico Felipe Calderon and the State Governor Felix Arturo Gonzalez Canto starting on Thursday, is aimed at examining the response to the H1N1 virus and seeing what lessons can be learned.

The World Health Summit will take place at the Moon Palace Golf and Spa Resort in Cancun, with extreme security measures for the presence of presidents, leaders and experts of 50 countries.

It has been more than two months since the initial alert over swine flu. Since then, the H1N1 virus has entered more than 100 countries, infected more than 70,000 people and killed more than 300 worldwide.

As the experts and leaders meet in Cancun, authorities across South America are becoming increasingly concerned as the peak flu season approaches.  It is hoped the Cancun meeting will address many of the issues that might help slow the spread of swine flu.

Source: Washington Post/ BBC News

Despite a new theory that swine flu may have originated in Asia, Mexico can still show the world how fast recovery from a health scare can be and pass experiences on to other nations.

The event, being held July 1-3, 2009, expects the participation of 40 national ministers of health and heads from important organizations, such as Margaret Chan from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Mirta Roses of the Pan-American Organization of Health.

Margaret Chan recently praised Mexico for the openness and speed with which it implemented health measures.

RE/MAX Investment Properties said that despite new suggestions by the New York Times that swine flu originated in Asia, not Mexico, it is still a fantastic opportunity for Mexico to show the world how fast recovery from a health scare can be and pass experiences on to other nations.

The New York Times had reported this week that “Contrary to the popular assumption that the new swine flu pandemic arose on factory farms in Mexico, federal agriculture officials now believe that it most likely emerged in pigs in Asia, but then traveled to North America in a human”.

Source: PR WEB/ www.prweb.com

The author, Andrés Martinez is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation who has expressed that Mexico now needs help to reactivate its tourism sector after the Influenza (Swine Flu) scare that took place in May.

He explains “Your neighbor needs your help. Do you have it within you to lend a hand? Will you book yourself a week on the beach in Cabo or Puerto Vallarta, or explore Mexico City or one of the colonial cities in the heart of Mexico? You know, for the common good.

The tourism sector is the largest employer in Mexico and the third-largest source of foreign currency for the trillion-dollar economy, after oil exports and remittances sent home by Mexicans working in the U.S. It is estimated that the swine flu alone will cost the country about $5 billion in tourist revenue (and bear in mind that travel to Mexico was already down significantly as a result of the U.S. recession).

Hotel occupancy rates in Cancun in May didn’t even reach the 30% mark. The all-clear has been sounded on the virus, but no one knows for sure how long-lasting the impact on tourism will be. Mexico’s gross domestic product, meanwhile, is expected to contract about 12% in the second quarter of this year.

Andres Martinez continues “The fact that the United States bears some responsibility for Mexico’s current woes is another reason to invest in our neighbor’s stability and prosperity”.

Americans also share some of the responsibility for the mayhem unleashed by the showdown between the Mexican state and its rapacious drug cartels, as both Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and President Obama were right to point out in recent months. Drug users in this country are underwriting the war in Mexico — and that war is being waged largely with guns brought in from this country.

Andres Martinez points out those American travelers can help Mexico by booking a trip to the beach destinations that have been badly affected by current international events. His own words say “you can do your part to help out a good neighbor — book a trip south”.  

Source: LATIMES/ www.latimes.com

The efforts and resources that have been focused on the production of the Influenza vaccine should not cease until a small doses is obtained, he said during the launch of the Second National Health Week.

After WHO announced the maximum level of alert, President Calderon said that Mexico will continue taking the preventive measures that were taken since last month, and the government will continue monitoring any influenza cases in future seasons.

The country fought a battle and succeeded in stabilizing one of the largest health emergencies in recent history, the Mexican leader pointed out, “however, we cannot let our guard down, especially regarding preventative measures.”

The most important issue said President Calderon is not to fear another outbreak which science knows there could be new mutations and other virus, but that Mexican society responds once again in an exemplary way to preventive measures and the medical community, as heroes.

Calderon said that Mexico will maintain the close collaboration it has with the WHO and with the governments of other nations and admitted that, without a doubt, the epidemic is under control.

The President of Mexico confirmed that its government will act in a responsible and transparent way, as it always has “because we know this is the only way to prevent the outbreak of this virus”.

Source: El Porvenir/ La Jornada/ Mexico Update/ www.mexico-update.com

After the Mexican government launched the Vive Mexico campaign, and hotel directors worked on other campaigns such as “Please recommend us” and “Flu free guarantee”, the amount of reservations took a higher look than predicted, which was reflected in Cancun´s hotel occupancy rate of this week that was over 60 percent.

This 64 per cent hotel occupancy rate is equivalent to approximately more than the 28,000 rooms available in Cancun.

This vacation destination is expected to maintain  these high levels of occupancy due to the good numbers of reservations that have been made for the following week of June, which is why it´s very possible that this high summer season will overpass the 70 percent of hotel occupancy predicted.

For another instance, the International Airport in Cancun reported this weekend a total of 296 air operations that include landings and take-offs.

The Terminal Two registered 49 national flights and 33 international flights. Terminal Three  reported 86 international arrivals and 65 departures.

Source: Grupo SIPSE/ www.sipse.com

Some of the vacation destinations that were badly affected by Mexico´s health contingency from influenza and economic downturn include Cancun and Riviera Maya, which are one of the leading headquarters for expos and conventions.

Therefore a coordinated effort between the federal government, ministries of tourism, the Mexico Convention Bureau and private industry, including hotels and convention centers, the goal of “Vive Mexico” is to encourage tourism to and within the country by reassuring the public that Mexico is not only a safe place to travel, but also a unique, vibrant and value-added destination.

At the campaign announcement late last month, Mexican President Felipe Calderon called upon the country’s businesses, citizens and public figures to go beyond the call of duty in assisting with the effort.

He also has encouraged Mexican resorts to help stimulate travel by offering special packages, deals and discounts that will be promoted on the campaign’s Web site, and citizens have been asked to act as ambassadors to help spread the word about the beauty and vibrancy of Mexican destinations.

The effort couldn’t come soon enough for a country so dependent on tourism to support its economy. According to Patricia Farias Barlow, president of Farias Global Expos, although only 98 people died from influenza virus in a country of more than 100 million turned out to be less threatening than originally thought, the news coverage of the outbreak was extremely damaging to the country.

Hotel occupation decreased an average of 50 percent in most of Mexico, with related businesses strongly impacted, Farias said. Unfortunately, the convention industry didn’t escape the ripple effects of the scare, she added.

Since then, the Mexico Tourism Board has made a concerted effort to promote and inform the international event industry about the situation at all industry events and has held strategic meetings to help boost confidence in people planning meetings and events in Mexico, Farias said.

Ultimately, getting the message out far and wide that Mexico is a safe place to visit will be key to luring tourists and business travelers back to the destination, she added.

Source: Trade Show Week/ www.tradeshoweek.com

The plan uses several elements of the Google platform, including placing maps of archaeological sites and directions to them on Google Earth.

The institute has started a channel on the video-sharing site YouTube.

The government agency said it is working on more interactive and virtual tours, including 360-degree and rotating videos of pyramids and other sites that include Chichen Itza, Teotihuacan, Tule and Tulum ruins.

The institute’s 173 archaeological sites and 116 museums were closed for more than a week at the height of the swine flu epidemic, but reopened in early May.

Tourism plunged following the outbreak. The Tourism Department said that occupancy rates had fallen as low as 9 to 12% at the country’s nine biggest tourism sites one month ago, but has since recovered to about 43%.

The government has launched the “Vive Mexico” campaign to revive tourism, the nation’s third-largest source of legal foreign income. Some of the most affected vacation destinations of the influenza outbreak  (swine flu) includes Cancun, Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, to mention a few.

Hotels have launched special offers and President Felipe Calderon enacted a new tourism law that provides for better co-operation between local and federal officials and between the government and the private sector.

Source:  The Press Association

Accompanied by State Governor, Emilio González Márquez; Secretaries of the Economy and Tourism, Gerardo Ruiz Mateos and Rodolfo Elizondo Torres, respectively; and outgoing and incoming presidents of CONCANACO-SERVyTUR, Antonio Mahbub Sarquis and Mario Sánchez Ruiz, the President specifically referred to the Tourism Sector, and the effects of the A/H1N1 virus epidemic.

A propos of this, he said that $1.2 million pesos have been assigned to promoting tourism through the Vive México program, the application of tax exemptions and discounts, the expansion of credits, the activation of the Emergency Program of Support for Workers in the Tourist Sector, which has a budget of 200 million pesos and the recent signing of the decree for the new General Law of Tourism, which will improve tourism planning.

The Vive Mexico campaign is aimed to reactivate tourism in Mexico´s favorite vacation destinations such as Cancun, Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco, and many others that were drastically affected by the Swine Flu outbreak last month.

“We are aware that the sector most highly affected by the circumstances, particularly the epidemiological situation, has been tourism, which is crucial to the livelihood of millions of Mexicans. That is why we are acting on this front and why the Vive México campaign is seeking activities such as these, whereby Mexicans will be able to visit our own tourist resorts.

The President stressed that economic recovery is beginning to be felt, following records of increases in hotel occupation in the country’s tourist centers and the arrival of cruise ships, as well as rises in the Mexican stock market.

He explained that these results have tested Mexico and its society and government. “I know that precisely because of the scope of these problems and the way we have gradually overcome them that Mexico has not only shown its strength but will actually emerge stronger,” declared President Felipe Calderón.

Source: Press Room/ Presidential Government of Mexico/ www.presidencia.gob.mx

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the epidemic peaked in Mexico in late April and now has spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The CDC says it will continue to be a threat south of the equator, where countries are entering the winter months and traditional flu season.

Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova says the number of swine flu cases fell from an average of 300 a day during the epidemic’s peak to less than 30 now. “We don’t really have any more serious cases,” Cordova told The Associated Press.

The Mexican government has pumped $91 million (1.2 billion Mexican pesos) into getting that message out.

When swine flu broke out, Mexico was already suffering from the economic crisis and fighting image damage over drug violence. Spring breakers still flocked to Mexican beaches far from the drug-plagued U.S. border, but thousands of tourists and businesspeople from around the world canceled trips when swine flu emerged.

President Felipe Calderon has recruited everyone from Mexican opera tenor Placido Domingo to Hollywood stars as part of the government’s “Vive Mexico” campaign to jump-start tourism, the nation’s third-largest source of legal foreign income.

Calderon recently met in Mexico City with actor Hugh Jackman, who “pointed out that our country is a healthy place for tourists,” the president’s office said in a news release.

Ben Stiller also has visited since the epidemic, despite being criticized for allegedly using anti-bacterial gel after shaking hands with Mexican reporters in Washington last month. Stiller declared it all a misunderstanding and joked he liked Mexico so much he might even ask Calderon for a job.

Nearly 300 Mexican hotels are participating in the “Biggest Hotel Sale Ever” campaign being offered by online travel agency Expedia Inc., according to company official Marco Tagliatti, who said that the average price for vacation packages to Cancun in which a flight and hotel are booked together has dropped 26 percent compared to last summer.

With the weakened peso trading at 13 to the dollar, the destinations are also a deal for recession-weary Americans. And if that’s not enough to persuade travelers to risk it, the Mexico City government is promising them free health insurance.

With the number of flu cases falling in Mexico, more international tourists are returning to the country’s vacation spots, airlines and travel agencies say—but it still shouldn’t be too hard to find a spot on the beach to lay your towel.

Source: Associated Press/ Mercury News/ www.mercurynews.com

It is; of course, right to be concerned about an H1N1 outbreak. Australia is taking some of the most stringent measures of anywhere in the world to stop the disease spreading.

But the doomsday scenarios of widespread outbreaks causing bans on travel across the globe have failed to materialise. In fact, travel bans put in place by several governments on travel to Mexico – bans that the World Health Organization (WHO) always dismissed as ineffective –have been quietly lifted.

Are you still travelling to swine flu destinations? WHO recently reiterated its advice to its 193 member countries not to close borders or impose travel restrictions.

Smart travellers are taking advantage of unbelievable deals to what remains one of the world’s most fascinating destinations.

For many visitors, Mexico is all about Cancun (where incidentally not one tourist caught swine flu) and the Riviera Maya. This long strip of beaches attracts sun-seekers from around the world. But these hotels and beaches are quieter than they have been for years, despite discounts of up to 40 per cent on rooms and cut-price tours.

Some Mexican hotels even offered free holidays for three years to any tourist catching swine flu while on holiday there.

It’ll never be quieter at the Mayan pyramids of Chichen Itza, recently voted one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

A do-it-yourself trip to Mexico reveals more good deals. Room upgrades and further discounts on quoted rates are often available if you call direct.

Airline seat sales will also be the best source of a deal. The domino effect felt in Caribbean resorts – which initially benefitted from would-be Mexico travellers – means that there’s good value to be had here, too.

Watch out for the impending hurricane season, but keep your eyes peeled for tempting deals in the Spring. This will be a great time to see Cuba, possibly for the last time before American travel restrictions are lifted. All in all, if you can travel, now is a great time to do it.

Source: News.com.aus / www.news.com.au