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To: TobagoJack who wrote (31676)	4/16/2003 8:06:29 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 74559

Labour day visits could halve, says travel industry chief Thursday, April 17, 2003 hongkong.scmp.com ALEX LO Half of the mainland tourists who had planned to visit Hong Kong over the Labour Day holiday have cancelled their trips, with international visitor numbers over Easter also set to plunge, the Travel Industry Council said yesterday. The council's executive director, Joseph Tung Yao-chung, said there were more than 400,000 cross-border visitors to Hong Kong during the mainland's week-long Labour Day break last year but he estimated the number would drop 50 per cent next month. He said the central government's directive to halt trips to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand would also hurt Hong Kong because many mainland tour groups for those countries passed through Hong Kong. "We are talking about at least a billion dollars lost," said Mr Tung, who estimated that worldwide, 90 per cent of planned tours over Easter to Hong Kong had been cancelled. He did not give an estimate on losses from those cancellations. Mr Tung said local tour operators stood to lose about $300 million over Easter after the cancellation of about 70 per cent of overseas tours by Hong Kong residents. "Fears about Sars have affected both inbound and outbound tours,'' he said. The Hong Kong Tourism Board agreed the outbreak was having a negative impact on local tourism but declined to estimate its economic impact. "Easter is the peak season for outbound tours but it's not a peak season for inbound tours. We won't know the extent of the economic costs without knowing how long the outbreak will last," a board spokeswoman said. Tourists from the mainland make up more than 40 per cent of all tourists to Hong Kong, followed by those from Taiwan (15 per cent), Japan (8.4 per cent), the US (six per cent) and South Korea (2.8 per cent). The World Health Organisation issued a global warning last month that people should not visit Hong Kong.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (31676)	4/16/2003 8:17:39 PM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

People overseas will see it as the source of a disease which spread internationally People overseas should be very grateful that this outbreak didn't start in their own back yards, and they haven't been sent (as health care workers) to look after infected patients. I have my fingers crossed for those guys. Will say a prayer two as well. pb

To: TobagoJack who wrote (31676)	4/17/2003 1:22:51 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

There are 1.1 billion Chinese. How many died of SARS? There are 6 billion people on Earth how many died of SARS? Just to put it o the right perspective. Yeah, I rmemeber back in 1986 when the earth's population was going to vanish due to AIDS. I sat down with a friend and we reasoned; We're no drs. You only can attack the body through holes on it. Hence, the sickness would be localized among a very select group. We singled out only two group of people who would die in droves until they become more careful. Homosexuals and intravenous drug users. All other cases beyond those two groups would be accidental and a few careful steps would avoid. We were no wrong. But there are many homossexuals in high profile and visible activites: Rock Hudson and a few musicians and the scare was blown beyond prportions.