The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said yesterday that his ministry was ramping up its marketing efforts to curb the tourism fall-out from Zika fears, with Canada already having issued a travel advisory on the nation.

“One of the things I have seen is a trend of the traveling public, where pregnant women won’t travel and in fact they are seeking new residences in areas where there has been no Zika outbreak,” Mr Wilchcombe said. “We have to be reassuring the general traveling public that we are monitoring the situation, that we are mindful of the circumstances and ensure them that our Ministry and particularly the Ministry of Health is doing all it can to deal with the mosquito.”

Mr Wilchcombe added: “It is imperative because people who come to your country want to have a sense of comfort that when they get here that they are not going to be affected. Our public relations and our marketing people are doing more to get the information out, issuing more statements and talking to our friends in the media to get the message out. The problem has always been that when we are marketing, if something is in New Providence, people say The Bahamas and think that it is everywhere. We have to point out exactly where and let the world know the islands that have not had any issues.”

The Government confirmed there are now four Zika cases in New Providence. The Bahamas reported an initial case of the virus on August 10 in a male who had recently travelled to Jamaica. Officials have said that two of the three new cases were reported in women, none of whom are pregnant. Additionally, two of the cases were transmitted locally. Officials have tested roughly 83 suspected cases of the Zika virus with just the four positive tests reported to date.

Canada, a source market for tourists to this destination, has already warned pregnant women, and those planning on having children, to avoid traveling to the Bahamas. In advice that was posted last Friday on the Canadian government’s official website, the Bahamas was added to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s list of countries to avoid as a result of the Zika virus. The Canadian government is “recommending that Canadians practice special health precautions while travelling in affected countries. Pregnant women and those considering becoming pregnant should avoid travel to the Bahamas”.

Last week, Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) scaled up a travel alert level for The Bahamas over Zika fears. At least 67 countries, areas and territories worldwide, primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean region, have reported outbreaks of Zika virus infections.