Brazil - Brazzil Mag - Brazil's Dengue Epidemic Cuts Tourism by 20%

Amazon Body Care

Related Items

Brazilian authorities for the first time are admitting that the dengue epidemic in Brazil is having a serious impact on the tourist industry, particularly in Rio do Janeiro where bookings have been plummeting.

Tourism Minister Martha Suplicy said that the proliferation of dengue cases, and deaths, "inhibited" European tourists and to a lesser extent Argentines.

"We still don't have the numbers but as soon as the epidemic began we felt the impact particularly from Spain, Portugal and Italy. In Argentina also, but to a lesser extent", said Suplicy adding that the problem is "really serious; we can't block the sun with a colander".

Brazil's Association of Hotels confirmed that bookings in Rio for the coming long weekend (includes Monday April 21) stand at 45% of available rooms, which means a retraction of 20%.

The latest report from the Health authorities of Rio de Janeiro, the city which has most suffered the dengue disease with 46 deaths, in the last week has seen the number of cases grow by 1.929 to a total of 75.463.

Although the epidemic is most severe in the city, deaths have also been reported in the rest of the state, adding up to 79 deaths up from 67 only a week ago.

Another 80 deaths are undergoing forensic lab tests to determine whether it was dengue.

These numbers, which cover the three and a half months of 2008, indicate the city is rapidly heading to break the 2002 dengue epidemic record, with 91 deaths and 288.245 cases.

The transmission of dengue and its more deadly version, hemorrhagic dengue, is done by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which proliferates in stagnant waters and tropical weather. A female mosquito lives 45 days and it's enough to have bitten an infected person for it to become a lethal insect.

PODERIA TER SIDO MÓ PIOR
written by KENDRA LEE, 2008-04-11 19:40:32

DENGUE É MÓ RUIM, MAS O CÓLERA É PIOR AINDA
IMAGINEM OS TURISTAS CHEGANO E CAGANO EM NOSSA FRENTE
NINGUÉM MERECE smilies/grin.gif

hmmmmmm
written by Joao Brazukaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, 2008-04-11 21:35:58

"We still don't have the numbers but as soon as the epidemic began we felt the impact particularly from Spain, Portugal and Italy. In Argentina also, but to a lesser extent", said Suplicy adding that the problem is "really serious; we can't block the sun with a colander".

No, that one had nothing to do with the typical nationalistic hissy-fit thrown by o Povao, in response to the Spanish authorities doing their job last month!

I've never seen a nation with thinner skin....

...
written by bo, 2008-04-13 05:36:29

"We still don't have the numbers but as soon as the epidemic began we felt the impact particularly from Spain...

Agree 100% Joao....millions of brazilians illegal in other countries and then they get upset when the rules are stringently applied to them. I seriously don't think dengue had much to do with the low numbers of spanish tourists, more of the "tit for tat" plaugue that is all so common in Brazil. smilies/cheesy.gif

Stats
written by Simpleton, 2008-04-13 11:51:49

"more of the "tit for tat" plaugue that is all so common in Brazil" - Not sure how to make the correct correlation and statistical arguments on this one. But it does raise a few questions.

When you find you seem to have run out of tats can you make trade using your excess illegal ti ts? Is current formula more or less two for one?

More seriously, there's been another member of our favorite family stricken with dengue - that's the fourth one since December. Good news is the teenager, toddler and grandmother are reportedly doing much better now. Suppose high season will have to be split into two halves to avoid risks in the future - this just isn't going to go away and I'll speculate that the weather patterns for future years aren't going to vary abruptly.