Mexico funding tourism initiatives

The Mexico Tourism Board is preparing a multimillion-dollar campaign to bring tourists back to the country as soon as swine flu is safely contained. Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon announced the promotion as part of a $1.3 billion economic stimulus package to help the country recover.

The money will be used to offer fiscal incentives to tour operators, meeting planners and travel agents, such as a 50 percent reduction of costs towards the use of air space and cruise ports for the next three months. Hotels in the country have reduced rates as much as 70 percent and one hotel chain has launched a “flu-free guarantee” for most of its Mexico locations, according to a report in The New York Times.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is not restricting travel in relation to the outbreak of H1N1 Influenza, the official name of the current flu strain. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lifted its travel warning against all nonessential travel to Mexico May 18. U.S. visitors account for nearly 80 percent of Mexico’s international tourism market, the country’s third-largest source of revenue.

Officials are still monitoring the spread of swine flu, though they are seeing a trend in the reduction of cases. Mexico has reported 1,112 laboratory-confirmed cases and 42 deaths, according to the WHO. The Mexico Tourism Board hopes to get the all-clear to launch the trade-and-consumer campaign by mid-to-late May. Further updates to the CDC investigation and any related travel recommendations will be posted on CDC.gov/travel when available.