Asia's travel industry, struggling with weak demand because of the weak global economy, is bracing for the fallout from the swine flu. But industry analysts say Asia's 2003 experience with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome may help the region recover quickly from a travel slump.
亚洲旅游业在面对全球经济滑坡导致需求锐减而苦苦挣扎的同时又遭到猪流感的突然袭击。分析人士认为，亚洲地区从2003年萨斯病疫情中获得的经验有助于当地旅游业迅速走出困境。
Monitoring arriving passengers
Airline industry and port authorities around Asia are monitoring arriving passengers, hoping to detect, and isolate, anyone infected with swine flu, which broke out in Mexico in recent weeks.
自从最近几个星期猪流感疫情从墨西哥开始向世界其他国家扩散以来，亚洲各地的机场和港口就开始密切检测来往的旅客，以期发现和隔离任何受到猪流感病毒感染的人。
In the past several days, the virus has spread to Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Israel and Europe.
过去几天来，从美国、加拿大，到新西兰、以色列和欧洲，很多地方都发现了猪流感病例。
It is suspected of causing about 150 deaths in Mexico where more than 1,600 possible cases have been reported.
在猪流感的发源地墨西哥，已经有将近150人可能因猪流感而丧生，那里得猪流感疑似病例已经超过1千6百个。
Governments around the world are urging their citizens to avoid traveling to areas infected with swine flu, to minimize its spread. Those warnings are expected to soon translate into fewer international travelers.
世界各国政府都在呼吁本国公民避免到猪流感疫区旅行，以尽可能减少猪流感病毒的扩散。预计这些旅行警告将很快导致国际旅行人数的减少。
Warnings affect international travel, economy
Pacific Asia Travel Association spokesman John Koldowski says there had been hope the region's travel industry would begin to recover from the economic slump late this year. Now, says Koldowski, the outlook is uncertain.
约翰.科尔多夫斯基是亚太旅游协会的发言人。他说，人们本来希望亚太地区的旅游业将在今年晚些时候从经济滑坡中开始复苏。可是现在，科尔多夫斯基说，简直是前途难料。
"It is going to be how quickly this can be handled, how quickly the all clear can be given and how quickly we can get consumer confidence back to a positive track. If, in the best-case scenario, that may only take two to three months. In the worst-case scenario it could take six months or longer," he said.
“一切都取决于这次疫情处理得有多快，警报的解除有多快，消费者信心恢复到正面有多快。最好的情况是，这一切只需要2、3个月的时间。最坏的的情况是，这要拖上半年甚至更长的时间。”
Brian Sinclair-Thompson, the president of the Board of Airline Representatives in Thailand, says transportation authorities are "acting correctly" in trying to reduce the spread of the flu.
布赖恩.辛克莱尔-汤普森是泰国航空公司代表协会会长。他认为，运输当局正在采取正确的行动来减少猪流感的扩散。
SARS scare serves as reference point
Sinclair-Thompson says the travel industry and governments gained experience in dealing with health crises in 2003, when Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome hit the region.
辛克莱尔-汤普森指出，旅游业和政府都从2003年的萨斯病疫情中吸取了经验教训。当时萨斯病给亚太地区造成很大的冲击。
"I think we have learned from the experience of SARS and that we are better equipped to work together to ensure the traveling public of their safety given the checks and balances and the monitoring that have been put in place," he said.
他说：“我认为我们从当年的萨斯病疫情中吸取了经验，由于落实了检测、平衡和监控措施，我们现在能够更好的通过合作来确保广大公众的旅行安全。”
But Sinclair-Thompson adds it is unclear how long it may take the airline industry to recover. Because of the poor economy around the world, many passengers this year have booked flights closer to their departure date. That makes it hard to get a good sense of trends.
不过，辛克莱尔-汤普森表示，航空业需要多少时间才能复苏目前还不清楚。由于全球经济疲软，很多乘客都是等到出发之前才购买机票。这样一来就很难预测市场走势。
Air travel diminishes
The International Air Transport Association this week said passenger traffic fell 11 percent in March because of the economy. The Asia Pacific region led the decline with a more than 14 percent fall off in demand. Passengers for North American flights fell by more than 13 percent.
国际航空运输协会报告说，由于经济状况恶化，航空乘客人数在3月份下降了11%。亚太地区乘客人数减少的幅度更是超过了14%。北美地区的乘客人数减少了13%以上。
IATA had earlier forecast global passenger traffic to contract by two percent this year, with a recovery in 2010. But now such forecasts may have to be redone.
早些时候，国际航空运输协会预测说今年的全球乘客人数可能减少2%，明年航空业会出现复苏。可是现在，由于突如其来的猪流感，这些预测看来都得重做了。
In 2008, airlines suffered a loss of nearly $8.5 billion. IATA had expected the loss to shrink this year to around $5 billion.
2008年，全球航空公司亏损了将近85亿美元。国际航空运输协会认为，航空业今年的亏损预计会缩小到50亿美元。 |