Hawaii Swine Flu
If you live in Hawaii you probably already know that swine flu has made its way to Hawaii and the amount of new cases keeps growing on the islands. How could you not? The swine flu topic has been all over the news and media outlets the last couple of weeks. On May 5, Hawaii reported the first case of swine flu and the number of new cases have grown to 30 as of today when four new cases of swine flu were identified.
The impact of swine flu on Hawaii’s economy is probably greater than any other place in the United States because Hawaii’s main economy is tourism, and the recent cases of swine flu in Hawaii, and around the world for that matter, have put a damper on the tourism industry.
The amount of Japanese tourists visiting Hawaii have decreased since the first case of swine flu was reported in Hawaii. This decrease in tourists will amount to millions of dollars in lost revenue to Hawaii even though the swine flu cases in the state are mild compared to other areas around the world.
Many hospitality businesses who cater to tourists have noticed the down swing in business and have said it continues to get worse. Airlines and hotels have seen a rise in cancellations and less new bookings over the past two weeks and expect it to continue until there are no more new cases of the swine flu in Hawaii.
With an already slowing tourism industry because of the global economic crisis, swine flu in Hawaii has given an even bigger blow to Hawaii’s tourism industry.
Tags: h1n1 hawaii, hawaii swine flu, Hawaii Tourism, swine flu