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Dr. Peter Tarlow explains travel and tourism Security and Safety
What travel destinations are safe from Coronavirus?
The virus had put a noticeable dent on the travel industry, even though most countries in the world have no cases of the virus. The World Health organization never suggested to close borders and create panic amongst those wanting to explore the world.
Scientists are working around the clock to find a cure and a vaccine for COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. With 68,386 cases of COVID-19 in China alone and 1894 deaths, it’s good news not only for the travel and tourism industry that 8 countries were able to eliminate and cured those that were ill with the virus.
The good news is, China reported 143 virus deaths and a dip in new cases yesterday while the head of the World Health Organisation praised the country’s efforts to contain the new disease, saying they have “bought the world time” and that other nations must make the most of it.
France, meanwhile, reported Europe’s first death from the new virus, a Chinese tourist from Hubei province, where the disease emerged in December. The United States was preparing to fly American passengers home that are quarantined aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Japan.
India, Russia, Spain, Cambodia, Nepal, Belgium, Sri Lanka, Finland all had registered cases of Coronavirus and were able to eliminate the virus in those countries.
It takes discipline and commitment and sometimes top medical facilities to do this.
Tourism is big business in some of the affected countries. Eliminating and discriminating against tourists from certain countries may not always be a key to beat the threat of this virus.
Cambodia just yesterday said it was welcoming tourists from China with open arms and encouraged hotels to offer special friendship rates to Chinese visitors.
Nepal is going all out at the upcoming ITB travel industry trade show in Berlin. The country is not stopping celebrating their year of Nepal 2020, a special year to promote tourism. The Nepal Tourism Board together with the Nepal Embassy in Berlin already registered almost 200 top buyers and friends of Nepal to participate in the Nepal Night organized by eTN on March 5 at Lagenhaus in Berlin, Germany. Readers of eTurboNews are invited to celebrate tourism and a Coronafree destination.
For Sri Lanka, the elimination of the Coronavirus is also good news since the country is still recovering from a terror incident in April 2019, that killed more than 40 visitors. Sri Lanka is currently offering free tourist visas. Sri Lanka’s leading hotel group Jetwing Hotels just welcomed their first guest to their newly opened Jetwing Kandy Gallery Resort.
Unfortunately, this may only be good news for a few and limited time as Narasimhan, CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, told CNBC: “The reality is, it will take over a year in my expectation to really find a new vaccine for this so, we need to really use epidemiological controls to really get this situation in a better place.
Currently, the virus is active in the following countries with a number of recorded cases. The real number of ill people may be higher because some cases of the virus are like mild colds and may not be known to the infected, even though they are contagious.
- China (68386)
- Japan (338)
- Singapore (72)
- Hong Kong (56)
- Thailand (34)
- South Korea (28)
- Malaysia (22)
- Taiwan (18)
- Germany (16)
- Vietnam (16)
- Australia (15)
- USA (15)
- France (12)
- Macao (10)
- U.K. (9)
- Canada (8)
- UAE (8)
- Philippines (3)
- Italy (3)
- Egypt (1)
- Sweden (1)
Safertourism is organizing a last-minute breakfast event on the sideline of the ITB trade show in Berlin, Germany. More information on how to participate: http://safertourism.com/coronavirus/
Safertourism is also offering private webinars with Dr. Peter Tarlow, a known expert in travel and tourism safety and security. Dr. Tarlow also teaches at a medical school and is educated on Coronavirus. More information on how a company or destination can enter the communication go to https://safertourism.com/qa/
