All travel is going to take a hit from the swine flu outbreak which appears to be going global, and which has already killed 149 people in Mexico. And a number of travel related stocks took a hit today.
Cruise lines are certain to be hit hard. The reason: they've already been "tainted" with issues such as Legionnaire's Disease and other diseases which for some reason cruise lines seem to be susceptible to.
On Monday, as the EU warned about travel to the U.S. and Mexico, and the WHO raised the swine flu alert level to 4, both Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruise lines took major hits in the stock market.
Royal Caribbean stock dropped 14%. Carnival Cruise stock dropped 8%. At the same time, Carnival said there were no reports of guests showing symptoms of swine flu on its ships.
One can understand, however, if people start to eschew cruises. If you're on a Royal Caribbean or Carnival Cruise and swin flu breaks, out, you're isolated on the ship, which isn't a great thing.
Carnival, based in Miami, has cruises to Mexico from ports in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas and California. The company said that despite the swine flu outbreak, it would not be altering its travel itinerary.
This is all "as of now," of course. I'd expect, if the WHO alert level raises to 5 (which means we are on the verge of a pandemic), things may change.
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