With many popular vacation destinations including Mexico and some Caribbean islands being on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Travel Health Notices list, some travellers are reconsidering to change their destination for summer vacation.
The Zika virus might be one of the main reasons behind the noticeable performance decreases in Caribbean hotel industry in the first four months of 2016. According to STR, Compared with the April year-to-date period of 2015, the Caribbean’s occupancy fell 3.0% to 72.9%. Average daily rate was down 1.4% to $268.86. Revenue per available room dropped 4.4% to $195.99.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control today posted a Zika virus travel notice for Argentina. CDC has issued travel notices (level 2, “practice enhanced precautions”) for people traveling to destinations with Zika. For a full list of affected countries/regions, visit http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information.
Travelers to areas with cases of Zika virus infection are at risk of being infected with the Zika virus. Mosquitoes that spread Zika are aggressive daytime biters. They also bite at night. There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika virus. The best way to avoid Zika virus infection is to prevent mosquito bites.
Some travellers to areas with Zika will become infected while traveling but will not become sick until they return home and they might not have any symptoms. To help stop the spread of Zika, travelers should use insect repellent for three weeks after travel to prevent mosquito bites.
