| | |  Business News | May 2009 
'They Panicked and Put Mexico in Quarantine'
 Sean Davidson - Business24-7
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 |  | Tourism is witnessing slightly increased activity in Mexico after a travel alert was lifted. |  | | |
Swine flu first reported in Mexico on April 23 has wreaked havoc on a shrinking economy that had already been weakened by the global economic crises, said the country's Consul-General Francisco Alonso.
The combination of the downturn and influenza A (H1N1), which struck in the peak holiday season, means the country will have to wait until October when the next tourism season begins for any gradual recovery, he told Emirates Business.
Santander on Wednesday lowered its gross domestic product forecast for Mexico to a contraction of 6.5 per cent from a previous prediction the economy would shrink by five per cent this year.
"The influenza arrived at the most difficult time for our economy because at the beginning of this year we had the global crisis and on April 23, after we declared the virus, everything stopped," he said.
"First, countries were worried about what to do. They panicked and put Mexico in a sort of quarantine and asked their nationals not to visit. Unfortunately, this was not the best way to control the spread."
"Today, you can see that other countries are able to control these cases immediately at their respective airports. These cases are not coming only from Mexico but from all over. People have begun to understand this and all travel restrictions have been lifted."
Tourism is witnessing slightly increased activity with the arrival in Acapulco of a cruise ship on May 19 after the US lifted its travel alert. Two days later Japan announced that it would no longer quarantine travellers from North America and the International Civil Aviation Organisation called for a blanket suspension of restrictions on flights.
The World Health Organisation supported the appeals on May 22, stating it did not recommend any travel restrictions or border closures.
These moves have helped to jump-start tourist inflows but the numbers are still dire. In the UAE, the Mexican Embassy issued five visas this week after nearly a month of zero activity, the consul-general said. Prior to April 23, the consulate in Dubai was averaging six visas a day.
"All our flights are back to normal and we need more people to come," said Alonso. "We have the beaches but we also have culture, natural beauty and archaeology. We see 25 to 30 million tourists a year and it contributes 7.7 per cent to our GDP."
"It is right up there with the revenues Mexico gathers from its natural resources, international trade and remittances. So it is crucial that people begin to understand that the situation is well under control and poses no new risks."
"It's important to note that our five most frequented tourist destinations – Puerto Vallarta, Zihuatanejo, Mazatlan, Los Cabos and Cozumel – have had no reported cases of influenza and can be visited with confidence. Even Cancun and Acapulco are risk-free."
While the number of laboratory confirmed cases reported each week is on the decline in Mexico, the country is still not out of the woods. The WHO reported 367 new cases this week.
"We are devastated by the deaths caused by this virus and the cases being confirmed now are emerging from those dreadful April weeks. The symptoms only kick in after 10 days so no one can predict where it will come from."
"It started in Mexico and the US simultaneously and now Canada and Japan have been badly affected. However, all the countries have the virus under control and since we are able to detect it early we can treat and cure it."
He said all the issues affecting Mexico at the moment were global problems that needed to be tackled through a collective effort.
"Whether it's the economic crisis, swine flu, illegal drugs, climate change or illegal immigration, they are all global issues. We cannot fight any of this alone, everyone must come together.
"Mexico is in an interesting position. The US is a land of opportunity for everyone and the large border we share presents tremendous opportunities for trade but also big issues like illegal immigration, since we're the access point for Central and South America. The US and some other countries understand this and support us in our struggles, but we need more countries to do the same."
About UAE-Mexico trade, Alonso said the consulate was actively promoting opportunities in this region.
"We opened our consulate here in Dubai to promote more understanding, exchange of trade and tourism. It is very important for us to bring more Mexicans here to set up trade, and vice versa."
"We have to convince Mexican companies to come and discover the opportunities here, to use Dubai as a distribution point. They focus primarily on the Americas and Europe at the moment and only a few have started to look at the Middle East and Dubai. We brought 36 companies to visit Dubai last year of which four set up businesses here. We will look at increasing that number this year."
Exports from Mexico to the UAE in he first quarter of this year stood at $61.5 million (Dh226.3m), while imports from the UAE stood at $7.1m. "My aim is to grow the annual trade between the UAE and Mexico to around $400m in the next two years," said Alonso.
He said his office was working on taking Emiratis to Mexico to encourage an on-the-ground understanding of the business and trade opportunities the country of 100 million people offers.
"We have free trade agreements with more than 40 countries, including ones in North America and the European Union, plus Japan. And we're a gateway to North, South and Central America. From manufacturing and farming to services and information technology, several industries are flourishing in Mexico. We will work very hard to offer these opportunities to this region."
Earlier this week, Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, in a meeting with officials from his country's tourism industry, announced a $120m campaign to revive the sector. In addition to launching a global advertising push and lower tariffs, the country has slashed the time required for obtaining a visa by 75 per cent.
Alonso said some of this spend will come to the UAE, and added: "We will increase the level of knowledge here and are now issuing instant visas to Emiratis."
"Knowledge is still very limited – and that's on both sides. We need people here to understand Mexico. The UAE has decided to open an embassy soon in Mexico City, which is another way to promote knowledge.
"We will let people know things are normal and offer very attractive deals. I will meet travel agencies here to facilitate this. We will show people our tourist destinations are safe and still among the best in the world."
Addressing travellers' fears of security about the continuing drug war in Mexico, Alonso said: "This is where the media needs to start projecting the reality. Firstly, this is being fought far, far away from tourist destinations.
Mexico in figures
Area: 1,972,550 sq km – 15th largest in the world
Population: 109,955,400 (mid-2008 estimate, 11th in the world)
Currency: Peso
GDP: $1,559 billion (2008)
GDP growth: 4.8 per cent (2009)
GDP per capita: $14,932 (2009 est)
GDP by sector: Agriculture 4 per cent, Industry 26.6 per cent, Services 69.5 per cent (2007 est)
Inflation (CPI): 2.88 per cent (Central bank report, Feb 2009)
Labour force: 45.38 million (2007 est)
Unemployment: 3.7 per cent
Underemployment: 21 per cent (2007 est)
Exports: $419.9bn
Export partners: US 49.2 per cent, Germany 15 per cent, South Korea 12.5 per cent, China 10.3 per cent, Chile 8.4 per cent (2008)
Imports: $283 billion
Import partners: US 44.3 per cent, Brazil 31.5 per cent, Chile 9.3 per cent, China 5.5 per cent, South Korea 5.3 per cent, Japan 4.1 per cent (2008)
Public Debt: $92.7bn (October 2008)
Revenues: $571.2bn (2008)
Expenses: $321.2bn (2000 est)
Economic aid: $189.4m (2008)
Source: Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook |
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