In The News

India Fosters Growing 'Medical Tourism' Sector

Ray Marcelo July 2, 2003
India is hoping to expand its tourist industry – to include visitors with heart conditions and cataracts. Indeed, medical tourism, where foreigners travel abroad in search of low cost, world-class medical treatment, is gaining popularity in countries like India. The field has such lucrative potential that Indian finance minister Jaswant Singh called for India to become a “global health...

Sars-Free Asia Goes All Out to Woo Tourists Back

Paul Zach June 26, 2003
Jubilation is filling Sars-free Asian streets now that the WHO has issued the affected countries a clean bill of health and lifted travel warnings. City governments from Beijing to Taipei are sparing no expense on mass celebrations, encouraging people to go out and spend. Locals and even foreign businessmen have responded en masse, eager to join the colorful celebrations. However, amidst this...

A Pause for Breath

June 17, 2003
Since it was first diagnosed three months ago, the SARS virus has spread worldwide, infecting 10,000 people and threatening tourism in Canada and East Asia. Now, new cases of the disease appear to be on the wane, due to unprecedented cooperation between public health officials as well as draconian containment measures in some affected areas. Still, it remains to be seen how affected economies...

Thailand Tiptoes in Step With American Antiterror Effort

Raymond Bonner June 8, 2003
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been keeping his assistance to the US anti-terrorist effort private, fearing retaliation from terrorists and the impact of a public avowal on a tourist industry already suffering because of SARS and a bombing in Bali last year. Nevertheless, Thailand has been instrumental to the US anti-terrorism effort, providing interrogation facilities, the use of...

Sars: A New Threat to Asian Prosperity

Michael Richardson April 21, 2003
Greater openness in tourism and trade, on which much of Asia's recent economic growth has been based, is coming back to haunt countries from South Korea to Thailand. The extent of the economic fall-out from the Sars epidemic is only just becoming apparent, but WHO estimates already place the global costs at $30 billion and rising. With China's true infection numbers still unknown and...

Virus sows seeds of regional mistrust- Thai Prime Minister

April 9, 2003
According to Thailand’s Prime Minister, the spread of SARS is undermining regional cooperation in South East Asia due to the mistrust between different nations in the region. SARS has adversely affected the tourism industry in Thailand. Taiwan has protested its inclusion, by Japan, Thailand and China, as a SARS affected State. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has criticized China for...

War and a Slowdown Empty Caribbean Beaches

David Gonzalez April 8, 2003
Just as tourists to the Caribbean were getting used to new travel realities in the post-Sept. 11 environment, other global events have caused yet another downward slide in the fortunes of the scenic island nations. First, the general slump in the American economy has meant fewer tourist dollars for countries such as Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. And now the war on Iraq has discouraged all...