Swine flu: be prepared

With guests travelling to and from other parts of Britain and arriving here from overseas it is natural for tourism businesses to be anxious about the continuing threat of swine flu. While the number of cases in the UK has not reached the pandemic levels initially feared, it is still wise to monitor the situation and follow any recommended precautions to safeguard yourself, your staff and guests.

VisitBritain is working on behalf of the Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group (TIER) and will liaise with government and its agencies and others to monitor the outbreak and its particular relevance to the UK tourism industry.

The tourism body does not intend, at present, to issue particular advice to actual or potential visitors regarding swine influenza. The UK has a strong reputation for its response to and management of previous threats and therefore visitors need have no concerns about their health and safety when travelling to and around Britain.

One key difference between the outbreak of a contagious disease in Mexico as opposed to one in Hong Kong, such as the recent SARS cases, is that Mexico is not a transit gateway to the UK for other parts of the world.

Mexico is also a minor market for inbound tourism, worth around £40m per annum to the UK in total. British Airways and Mexicana both operate flights from Mexico City to London. Other charter flights between the two countries service the outbound holiday market from Britain.

The DirectGov website offers the latest news on any outbreaks, general advice, travel guidance and information on government actions against swine flu in the UK here.

The Business Link website provides advice specifically for businesses, including what to tell your staff, key prevention messages, whether masks are advisable plus links to further specialist guidance.

Advice is also available from the Department of Health website, including the NHS publication Pandemic Flu: Guidance for businesses. This provides detailed guidance for employers in the workplace. A copy can be downloaded here (PDF file, 531K).

The government’s swine flu information leaflet is available in various formats, including translated, audio and video versions from the DirectGov website here.