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The Damage Done
By Mark Murphy
Published on: May 7, 2009
The consequences of the hysteria over the swine flu will continue to have serious ramifications for the travel industry and Mexico in particular. By some accounts, the estimated economic damage to Mexico is more than $2 billion, and I suspect it may be much higher. That is a staggering amount that should have been taken into consideration by the news media and their hyperactive reporting before this thing got completely out of control.
Unfortunately, the media didn’t weigh the damage they could do. They have since moved on to things like Arlen Specter and the Chrysler bankruptcy. The flu story has been relegated to an afterthought by those on the front lines who were so frothy about it just a week ago. Some will argue that they were just doing their jobs, but the reality is far different for anyone who actually sits through hours of these “news” broadcasts.
I heard a great example on the radio yesterday morning from a caller who talked about living in New York and dealing with snow. Each and every year, if you live in New York, especially upstate New York, it snows. We call it winter and expect it to actually snow. So this caller pointed out that the sensational reporting goes something like this: New York Braces for Winter Storm…Storm Watch 2008…and other similar headlines. It’s the approach that something isn’t the norm, when indeed it is.
We’ve also had to deal with a U.S. president speaking out against companies holding meetings in destinations like Las Vegas, even if they have to walk on a full deposit that was paid a year or more earlier. This has crippled the meetings and events industry and hurt the millions of people whose jobs are tied to it. The U.S. vice president didn’t do any of us any favors last week when he stuck his foot in his mouth again and then proceeded to have the White House Press Office try to remove it by letting us know what he “really” meant.
Now some of you may have an issue with my take on the swine flu and how the travel industry has been damaged by both the media business and our elected officials. But if you read my column from last week, you would have understood my message of caution coupled with common sense. In analyzing the situation, you needed to balance the health concerns with the economic concerns. It’s one of the reasons that the calls for closing the border weren’t heeded along with calls for canceling all flights between Mexico and the United States.
Headlines like “Global Pandemic Imminent” screamed out from newspapers and cable news shows as everyone tried to boost their ratings and their readers. As a result, they crippled the tourism industry in Mexico in a very short period of time. The end result, as I indicated in that earlier column, will be far more reaching in its impact on individuals in Mexico than the actual flu virus outbreak.
Those who focus on Mexico, and the country itself, felt the impact the most. Even though they felt it the most, however, this latest debacle touched virtually every aspect of travel. It illustrated that even when something is focused in one place, the effects can be far reaching for all of us.
The best thing we can all do right now is to rally around Mexico, the suppliers who have been hurt by this latest event and the vacation business in general. The entire world is literally on sale and ready to be visited. Let’s start by supporting Mexico.
Mark Murphy
President & CEO
Performance Media Group, LLC
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