Will rabies discourage tourists?

[ronb]

My first thought was - it would have negligible impact. Then I read this report
http://www.theage.com.au/national/ra...1214-6yb1.html
and I'm not so sure. People travelling to new destination can easily get worried about health issues, so maybe this will be enough to put them off.

[SG]

Sadly tourism has already taken massive hits here, with the quadruple slam of travel warnings after the bombers got topped, the porno law, the economic downturn and the booze shortage. This is just another nail.

The travel forums, and a couple of visitors we've had recently are all telling stories of almost empty planes arriving here and you could've fired an ICBM down Jl Panti Kuta on Malam Minggu and not hit a living soul.

We went to Sarong, a wonderful restaurant that is almost impossible to get into usually, and it was half empty and the management seemed a little despondent..not least because their wine list was almost empty.

[mimpimanis]

Personally I dont think rabies itself should be a factor, though it might be.

Many other countries in the world have rabies and it isn't a factor when considering your holiday.

[SG]

Personally I dont think rabies itself should be a factor, though it might be.

Many other countries in the world have rabies and it isn't a factor when considering your holiday.

Most other countries don't have dogs wandering everywhere..especially ones who quite clearly are very unhealthy and uncared for.

[Roy]

It’s not a tourism warning as in a DFAT warning against travel to Bali, rather it is a warning for those visiting here “to avoid dogs, cats and monkeys.”

That’s good advice with or without rabies being in play. I doubt it will be a factor effecting tourism unless things really get out of hand.

[BaliLife]

Not a big factor I think for reasons Mimpi pointed out.

Ct

[SG]

There seems to be some pretty positive action being taken too if this report is credible (which it seems to be). It's a fairly localized outbreak and looks like it has been contained:

Bali will regain its status as an area free of rabies in a year if the ongoing emergency mitigation program succeeds, a coordination meeting between officials and experts concluded Friday.

The meeting was organized by the directorate general of the Ministry of Agriculture's animal husbandry division.

"The rabies mitigation program implemented in Badung is the correct one. The program's standard operating procedures must be abided by in a consistent manner," the directorate general's secretary, Syamsul Bahri, said.

By doing so, he added, the island may once again be rabies free in a year."

Standard operating procedures include the vaccination and culling of wild dogs at the two affected villages of Kedonganan and Ungasan, a ban on the transport of animals infected with rabies to and from the affected areas and the identification of dog bite cases.

To determine whether the disease has infected an area, officials monitor and confirm cases of dog bites, sending specimens to the state veterinary laboratory. So far, the laboratory had processed 37 specimens.

Bahri expressed his disappointment over the outbreak of the disease on the island that had been known to be rabies free.

"This is the result of the region's inability to implement the national standard in operating procedures of rabies prevention," he said.

He also attributed the outbreak to the local culture, pointing out that Balinese are quite friendly with dogs, as well as weak law enforcement.

Head of Badung's Animal Husbandry, Fishery and Maritime Agency I Made Badra said the ongoing rabies eradication efforts in South Kuta, the district that oversees Kedonganan and Ungasan, would be completed by the end of this month.

How much it affects Bali I guess comes down to the foreign media.

[SG]

The other thing worth mentioning is that rabies in Bali will rocket travel insurance for Australians. Bali is normally insured under Australia, NZ, the South Pacific and Bali, as a rabies free zone. If you get the wider Indonesia insurance it's quite bit more.

[Colleen]

Rather it is a warning for those visiting here “to avoid dogs, cats and monkeys.”

I gather then that expats in Ubud still avoid like the plague taking their own young families to visit the monkey forest & still strongly advise any friends to also steer clear of it ? Gawd I hate those damn monkeys & even more so after a good friend of our family spoke to us about them.

Don't get me wrong ,I am an animal lover & have own a large number of family pets over the years.One thing I am wondering about is if the Southern tourist areas are still plaqued with roaming stray cats & dogs wandering in & out of local restaurants,bars & warungs ? How the hell would the average Joe or Jill Blow tourist who spends 100% of their holiday not venturing out of Kuta or Legian manage to avoid dogs & cats ? As far as I am aware it would be an almost impossible thing to do.I reckon it is almost equivalent to saying - stay away from beach sellers or time share sales men & women - if you spend your whole holiday in Legian or Kuta - it would be an impossibility.

[mimpimanis]

Hi Colleen

I havent heard of any recent cases but certainly the earlier ones reported and mentioned here were confined to the Bukit. There were no cases down in Kuta /Legian. Though I have heard that the culling and vaccination programme have extended now beyond the bukit to the tourist areas.

Personally I dont have any concerns and I live very close to the effected area.