Disaster's impact on tourism minimal
By Kathy Bergen
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — While the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis took a horrific toll in human life, the ripple effect on the U.S. travel and hospitality industries is expected to be modest.
Not many Americans have the time or money to travel to the coastal areas of Sri Lanka, Thailand, southern India, Indonesia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Maldives for a beach holiday, especially when the Caribbean islands and Mexico are so close.
And many of the nation's largest hotel chains have a limited number of resorts in the affected areas, and generally those escaped significant damage.
Hilton International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Marriott International Inc. all reported minimal damage, if any, to their properties in the affected areas. All three said the natural disaster would have no effect on future hotel development plans.
"As horrific, in biblical terms, as the human toll has been, a lot of destinations within South Asia have not been impacted at all," said June Farrell, a spokeswoman for Marriott International. "And Asia itself is a very resilient part of the world. Look how fast it came back from SARS."
"The impact is relatively small for U.S. companies," added James Cammisa, publisher of Travel Industry Indicators, a Miami-based newsletter. Most of the resorts in the ravaged areas were owned by independents or by Asian tourism interests, he said.
In addition, most U.S. airlines provide only limited service into Southeast Asia, and many of them said it was too early to predict whether traffic to those areas would suffer in the coming months.
To be sure, there will be cancellations and postponements of trips to Asia, a part of the world that was enjoying growth in tourism after pulling through a series of crises, including the terrorist bombings in Bali, the SARS epidemic and the outbreak of bird flu.
"Typically, there is a very precipitous drop the first couple of months (after a crisis), and it could be as much as 60 (percent) to 70 percent," said Cammisa. "Then it begins to gradually build back." Recovery can take six to 12 months.
Still, some industry players say there is reason for greater optimism.
"I'm impressed that people have not just panicked," said Ashish Sanghrajka, vice president of sales for Big Five Tours & Expeditions, a Stuart, Fla.-based company specializing in tours to far-flung destinations.
"A small percentage have postponed (overseas) trips, but most are going ahead," he said. Some of those whose destinations included hard-hit areas, such as Phuket in Thailand, are rerouting.
"Those who were supposed to go to Phuket, for example, may go to a different island, or into Cambodia instead," he said.
Many airlines are issuing waivers that allow travelers to delay their trips to the affected areas by up to a year.
Getting U.S. travelers to set aside this latest set of travel fears will be a challenge on two counts, observers said.
"Americans are not the most sophisticated travelers in the world, and there's a fear of the unknown. ... These are distant, unfamiliar places," said Cammisa.
On top of this, Americans have been barraged with media coverage of the destruction.
"It will take time for people to get the images out of their mind," said Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman for the Travel Industry Association of America.
