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Travel agents and operators are braced for an influx of calls from
customers wishing to cancel or change their holiday plans following
the latest advice to avoid travel to Beijing and Toronto.
Cities to avoid
The World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday added the two cities
along with China’s Shanxi province to its list of places travellers
should avoid in a bid to control the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS).The organisation has already warned against travel
to Hong Kong and to China's southern Guangdong province.
ABTA has called on airlines and hotels to do all they can to help
operators who are having to change their itineraries in the light
of the latest WHO advice. An ABTA spokesman told TravelMole:”Operators
who have arranged packages including those areas may need to change
a substantial part of the itinerary. Clearly there are going to
be some costs they will not be able to recoup and hotels and airlines
should allow changes to be made as easily as possible.”
Airlines and agents worst hit
Agents could lose substantial sums in commission unless customers
are persuaded to change their holiday plans rather than cancel altogether.
But it is the airlines who could be most badly hit if SARS continues
to spread. Cathay Pacific has just announced that it is to cut 45%
of its flights and reconsider its final dividend payment for 2002.
Meanwhile British Airways, which flies to both Beijing and Toronto,
says it is looking at its schedule and will decide if flights should
be cut back later today. The airline currently operates two flights
a day from Heathrow to Toronto, and five times a week from Heathrow
to Beijing.
SARS has so far killed over 250 people worldwide.
[Source: Travel Mole]
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