Pandemics that we are suffered have been unexpectedly happened in human survival. Spreading through of years, it has caused global affects to society and economy. That is a warn that human must know how to survive, how to recover, how to develop in a respected resilience with environment.
Tourism is an economic social environmental industry. Its impact globally hits to lose of resources if it is exhaustedly exploited. Sine we have witted that tourism can also create benefits to life but it is one of causes of environmental negative effects. Evidently, tourism brings high yield, creates jobs when it is strongly operated. Tourism can be at the top of economic earning but it can be down at bottom temporary loses during pandemics happening.
Below is history of pandemics that have affected to fields of society. Certainly, tourism is one of industries stuck then.
Black Death (1347–1351)
Resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia peaking in Europe from where it travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343. It took 200 years for Europe’s population to recover to its previous level, and some regions (such as Florence) only recovered by the 19th century.
Outbreaks of the plague recurred until the early 20th century. With such a large population decline from the plague, wages soared in response to a labour shortage. Landowners were also pushed to substitute monetary rents for labour services in an effort to keep tenants.
Cholera pandemic (1816–1861
Seven cholera pandemics have occurred in the past 200 years, with the first pandemic originating in India in 1817. Between 1816 and 1923, the first six cholera pandemics occurred consecutively and continuously over time. Increased commerce, migration, and pilgrimage are credited for its transmission.
Deaths in India between 1817 and 1860, in the first three pandemics of the nineteenth century, are estimated to have exceeded 15 million people. Another 23 million died between 1865 and 1917, during the next three pandemics. Cholera deaths in the Russian Empire during a similar time period exceeded 2 million. However, most outbreaks are known to be self-limiting, meaning they come to an end after peaking without human intervention.
1889 flu (1889–1890)
The 1889–1890 flu pandemic, better known as the “Asiatic flu” or “Russian flu”, was a deadly influenza pandemic that killed about 1 million people worldwide.
Modern transport infrastructure assisted the spread of the 1889 influenza. The 19 largest European countries, including the Russian Empire, had 202,887 km of railroads and transatlantic travel by boat took less than six days (not significantly different than current travel time by air, given the time scale of the global spread of a pandemic).
Spanish flu (1918–1920)
Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500 million people – about a quarter of the world’s population at the time. A large factor in the worldwide occurrence of this flu was increased travel. Modern transportation systems made it easier for soldiers, sailors, and civilian travelers to spread the disease. Another was lies and denial by governments, leaving the population ill-prepared to handle the outbreaks. After the lethal second wave struck in late 1918, new cases dropped abruptly – almost to nothing after the peak in the second wave.
A 2006 study in the Journal of Political Economy found that “cohorts in utero during the pandemic displayed reduced educational attainment, increased rates of physical disability, lower income, lower socioeconomic status, and higher transfer payments received compared with other birth cohorts.” A 2018 study found that the pandemic reduced educational attainment in populations.
Asian flu (1957–1958)
The 1957 flu outbreak caused an estimated one million to two million deaths worldwide and is generally considered to have been the least severe of the three influenza pandemics of the 20th century. In the first months of the 1957 flu pandemic, the virus spread throughout China and surrounding regions. After 10 years of evolution, the 1957 flu virus disappeared, having been replaced through antigenic shift by a new influenza A subtype, H3N2, which gave rise to the 1968 flu pandemic.
Hong Kong flu (1968–1969)
The Hong Kong flu (also known as 1968 flu pandemic) was a category 2 flu pandemic whose outbreak in 1968 and 1969 killed an estimated one million people all over the world. The virus spread was driven in part by Vietnam War veterans returning to the United States. The infection was isolated in the United States and Japan in August; England, Wales, and Australia in September; Canada in December; and France in January 1969. The social and economic burden of the Hong Kong flu was small, particularly in North America. There was some direct economic impact related to higher school and workplace absenteeism, but there was a rapid recovery after infection rates declined.
SARS (2002–2004)
The 2002–2004 SARS outbreak was an epidemic involving severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS-CoV. The outbreak was first identified in Foshan, Guangdong, China in November 2002. Over 8,000 people from 29 different countries and territories were infected, and at least 774 died worldwide.
The transmission of SARS, as distinct from the transmission of economic impacts through global markets. The speed of spread is likely to depend on (i) tourist flows, (ii) geographical distance to China, (iii) health expenditures and sanitary conditions, (iv) government response, (v) climate, (vi) per capita income, (vii) population density, and so on.
Travel could act as a vector for the spread of infectious organisms. As in the case of SARS, transmission of disease between populations as a result of travel plays an important role in determining the health of not only those carrying the disease, but also the host nations and the health services of both native and host countries. Travel is undertaken for a number of reasons, including leisure and business, but inevitably the health of the individual can be an issue.
The current experiences in Hong Kong and elsewhere suggest that there is a need to improve the education of the physician workforce in the field of travel medicine. To carry out the essential practice of travel medicine, they should be well trained in emerging infections and prepared for any new challenges
Swine flu (2009–2010)
It was first recorded in almost simultaneous outbreaks in Mexico and the United States. The extent of global trade and travel allowed swine flu to spread as widely in six weeks as past pandemics had in six months. Infection was reported in 122 countries, with 134,000 laboratory-confirmed cases and 500,000 deaths.
On 26 April 2009, the Chinese government announced that visitors returning from flu-affected areas who experienced flu-like symptoms within two weeks would be quarantined.
U.S. airlines had made no major changes as of the beginning of June 2009, but continued standing practices which include looking for passengers with symptoms of flu, measles or other infections, and relying on in-flight air filters to ensure that aircraft were sanitized. Australia and Japan, screening individuals for influenza symptoms at airports during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak was not an effective method of infection control.
MERS (2012-present)
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS‐CoV) that was first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012 spreading 27 countries. The MERS virus is transmitted primarily from animals to people, but transmission from people to people is also possible.
As a general precaution, anyone visiting farms, markets, barns, or other places where animals are present should practice general hygiene measures. These include regular hand-washing before and after touching animals, and avoiding contact with sick animals.
National authorities may take precautions aimed at raising awareness of MERS and its symptoms among travelers to and from affected areas, based on their own local risk assessment. As required by the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), countries should ensure that routine measures are in place for assessing ill travelers detected on board means of transport (such as planes and ships) and at points of entry, as well as measures for safe transportation of symptomatic travelers to hospitals or designated facilities for clinical assessment and treatment. If a sick traveler is on board a plane, a passenger locator form can be used. This form is useful for collecting contact information for passengers, which can be used for follow-up if necessary.
COVID-19 (2019–present)
Currently, the effect on medical tourism is not yet understood but it is expected to be very badly affected. The World Health Organization (WHO) urges countries suffering from COVID-19 outbreaks to enforce travel or trade restrictions, but many governments have defied this and have placed bans or limitations on other nations. Regarding international tourist arrivals, World Tourism Forum Institute (WTFI) has revised its 2020 outlook from 1% to 3%. WTFI expected growth of 3% to 4% before the COVID 19 outbreak.
From the point of view of WTFI, said President Bulut Bagci
“The global tourism industry is set to incur losses of $1 trillion from the coronavirus outbreak. Stressing the virus’ spreading speed and its effects on the sector. 50 million people working in the sector may lose their jobs. The global tourism market averages revenues of $1.7 trillion annually, and due to the outbreak, economic losses have already reached $600 million. “We believe the loss will reach at least $1 trillion by the end of the year”. 70% of the travel sector has stopped and the virus’ effects on the sector are growing
Highlighting the issue’s importance, Bagci said with the sectors related to tourism, the total economic losses might go as high as $5 trillion.
In conclusion, pandemics are happened frequently from place to place. By the time, human has to react proactively. Especially, tourism industry is mainly received resilience during the plagues. We lost then gain as its history proves. There is new feasible hope that after a pandemic, tourism is quickly recover because it is the good way to pull out people from prevention measures of isolation, quarantine or social distance for a long time.
Source: Collections
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Hanni TranDirector of Asia, Global Tourism Forum
