CHINESE hoteliers and travel consultants appear sanguine about the prospects of business travel to Shanghai despite the current H7N9 scare.
Jin Jiang Hotel senior sales manager, Lucy Yan, said: “It’s still business as usual for us and we haven’t seen any major impact. There hasn’t been any cancellations or postponement of events.
“In fact, we have been operating at close to full occupancy during this period.”
Another Shanghai-based hotelier, who did not wish to be named, said any impact had not been significant thus far.
“Some foreign companies would not fully guarantee their bookings until closer to the date for the Shanghai Auto Show. But other than that, there have been no event cancellations. I think the situation is generally calm, as people are more experienced after SARS.”
Carlson Wagonlit Travel director, sales & marketing, Frank Yan, agreed: “We haven’t received any cancellations or deferrals of travel plans yet. Since neither the Chinese government nor the WTO has issued any travel advisory, we have advised our employees and clients not to be overly alarmed as there haven’t been any human-to-human transmissions.
“Of course, necessary precautions like avoiding poultry farms and the consumption of chicken still need to be taken,” he added.
However, some of China CYTS Business Travel’s domestic clients have cancelled their travel plans to Shanghai, noted the firm’s Shanghai division account manager, Duelo Du, although she remarked that foreign business travel to the city still remained unaffected.
– Read more in TTG Show Daily – IT&CM China
